Uppertale
by Muttson
Summary: A post-pacifist story of life on the surface. Due to the difficulty of starting a new life, most of the main characters are living together. There is some occasional language, and things may turn darker in later chapters. Also, Frisk is female in this. Deal with it. Cover art is by Jendra, who drew this fabulous picture for me. Thanks Jendra!
1. Morning

Chapter One

"SAAAANS!"

The peaceful Sunday morning was split by a shout.

"YOU DIDN'T PICK UP YOUR SOCK!"

"Good morning to you too, Papyrus."

"I ASKED YOU TO PICK UP YOUR SOCK LAST NIGHT AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T!"

Frisk smiled to herself. It was going to be a normal day. She rolled over and slid out of bed.

"DON'T PUT IT BACK DOWN!"

"Ok."

The two skeletons were bickering as usual. Frisk left her room and went downstairs. "Good morning!" She announced cheerfully.

"HELLO, FRISK!" Papyrus scooped her up in a hug. "I HAVE ALREADY STARTED MAKING BREAKFAST!"

Frisk looked at the stove. Pancakes with noodles mixed in the batter were cooking. A jar of marinara sauce stood nearby, ready to be poured on the food.

"Er, looks... Great, Pap. Real... Unique."

Papyrus beamed. Behind him, Sans winked at Frisk.

"So, uh, what's the plan for today?" The smaller skeleton sat down at the table. "We going anywhere special?"

"Nah, I thought we'd just hang out at home. Relax for a while." Frisk smiled. "After all, we went bowling just yesterday."

There was a yawn and everyone turned toward the stairs. Toriel was making her way toward the kitchen.

"Hey, Tori."

"Good morning, mom!"

"GREETINGS, YOUR MAJESTY!"

Toriel smiled. "Good morning everyone. Papyrus, you really don't need to call me that. I'm not the queen anymore." She gave Papyrus a reassuring grin. "Although I do appreciate it." She sniffed the air. "Goodness, is someone cooking something? It smells..." She trailed off, seeing Papyrus' excited expression. "...absolutely delicious!" She finished a little over enthusiastically.

Papyrus was overjoyed. "I KNEW THAT SPAGHETTI PANCAKES WOULD BE GOOD!"

"Yeah, I thought it was pasta-ble they'd work out." Sans offered. Toriel laughed as Papyrus groaned.

"Come here Frisk," she said, spreading her arms for a hug. Hugging Frisk, she whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, I'll make some normal pancakes."

Frisk whispered back. "It's ok, I'll try them. They can't be that bad."

Another figure came shuffling down the stairs. Undyne's hair was a mess and her good eye was half closed.

"You guys are so loud," She complained. "How am I supposed to be well rested when you guys are shouting about socks at 7 in the morning? I need to be ready for battle at any time!"

"GOOD MORNING, UNDYNE! I HAVE INVENTED A NEW FOOD!" Papyrus excitedly brought the tired fish to the stove. "LOOK AT MY CULINARY CREATION!"

"Nice! I can't wait to try it!" Undyne grabbed Papyrus in a headlock. "I told you those lessons would help you!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!"

"Then don't wake up the fish!"

Sans smirked. "Hey Undyne, where do fish sleep?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're gonna tell me no matter what I say?"

"In a riverbed!"

Undyne shifted her headlock to Sans as he chuckled. "Aw, come on, you're smiling." Suddenly, her arms closed around nothing. Sans was sitting in another chair, feet up on the table.

"You know I hate it when you do that." Undyne complained. "It's freaky. One second you're there, and the next... Poof."

Sans just shrugged as Papyrus stacked pancakes on a platter. "BREAKFAST IS READY!" He announced proudly, bringing them to the table. Frisk cautiously took one,

Undyne grabbed several and Toriel looked torn between taking one or cooking her own. In the end she decided to placate Papyrus and take one.

"What's wrong, Sans? You not hungry?" Frisk asked, pouring marinara sauce on her pancake.

"Nah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Frisk shrugged and took a bite. Her eyes lit up and she took another. "Wow, Papyrus, this is really good!"

"REALLY? WOWIE!" Papyrus broke into a huge smile. "I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT!"

Toriel raised an eyebrow and took a bite. She choked and smiled weakly. "Y-yeah, Papyrus. I-it's great."

Frisk looked at her, amused. "Man, that was good. Can I have yours, mom?" She winked.

"Sure, Frisk." Toriel replied gratefully. "I'm not too hungry anyway." She pushed the plate toward Frisk, who took it and began to eat heartily. "Oh, I forgot to mention, Alphys is visiting today." The scientist had been away working on a project with a research lab. She was incredibly busy and often spent long periods of time away  
from home.

"R-really?" Undyne began to smooth out her unkempt hair, much to everybody's amusement. "I'd better get dressed, then. I can't be wearing pajamas all day."

As Undyne raced upstairs, Toriel set to work clearing the table. Frisk hopped up to help as Papyrus cleaned the stove. Sans opened one eye.

"I suppose I should help out, huh?" He sat up and raised a hand. His left eye began to glow and several pots and pans floated over to the sink. "There ya go," he said as he closed his eyes and leaned back. Frisk giggled.

"You lazybones," she said affectionately.

"Hey, I can't deny it." He glanced at the human. "All right, fine. I'll help." Sans stood up, stretched, and went to help Toriel with the dishes.

"Frisk, why don't you get something ready to do? Tomorrow I'll have to go to work and you'll have to go to school, so let's have some fun today." Toriel smiled as the child ran off cheerfully.

"OH! WE SHOULD PLAY A BOARD GAME!" Papyrus, having finished the stove, followed Frisk out of the kitchen.

"So, uh, Tori..." Sans began. "I, uh, found a job the other day." He looked at the dishes he was washing. "It's, uh, not the best though."

"Oh Sans, I'm still proud of you. And it can't be that bad. What is it?"

"Well, I'm the new janitor at the school."

"Sans, that's great! Frisk will be so happy to have you working there! And we can carpool, too." Toriel dried her hands and gave the skeleton a hug. "It's not too bad  
of a job. I bet you'll find yourself enjoying it eventually."

"You really think so? I just... I don't know..."

"Sans, you'll be fine. I'm sure you can handle it.

"If you say so..."

They were interrupted by the ringing doorbell. "I'LL GET IT!" Undyne shouted, running down the stairs. She threw open the door. "Hi, Alph... Oh, uh, hi Asgore."

Asgore chuckled. "Not who you expected?" He stepped inside. "Frisk invited me over. She said we were going to play a game and wanted me to join."

Toriel stepped out of the kitchen, arms folded. She regarded the king with a blank expression. "Asgore," she said coolly.

"Toriel," he said with a nod.

Undyne stood there awkwardly for a moment as the two stared at each other. "So. Um. Shall we... Go see Frisk?"

"Yes, that seems like an excellent idea." Asgore seemed relieved. He went into the living room where Frisk and Papyrus were setting up The Game of Life. "Howdy, everyone!" He declared. "How are you all doing?"

"Dad!" Frisk shouted and ran to give him a hug.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Papyrus scrambled to his feet and bowed.

"No need for that, Papyrus. We're friends. Just call me Asgore."

"C'mon, dad, pick your car!" Frisk tugged on his hand, pulling him toward the table. Toriel entered the room carrying a teacup and saucer.

"Here you are, Asgore. Golden Flower tea." She set the saucer in front of the King.

He looked up at her, hope in his eyes. "Thank you, Toriel. I really appreciate it." His voice was filled with gratitude.

She looked blankly back at him. "Well, I know it's your favorite." She blinked heavily and turned away, heading back toward the kitchen.

Asgore watched her go, his heart heavy. He felt a gentle pressure and looked up to see Undyne standing next to him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's ok. But just between you and me, and think she misses you." She sat down next to him. "I call the blue car!"

Toriel returned to the room and sat across the table from Asgore. Sans appeared suddenly in a seat next to Papyrus and Frisk sat down next to Asgore.

"Ok, let's play!" Frisk spun the spinner and the game began.

-End of Chapter One.


	2. Dreemurrs

Chapter Two

They were just putting the board away when the doorbell rang again. Undyne sprang up and ran to the door excitedly. She threw it open to see Alphys standing outside.

"Alphys!" She shouted happily, scooping her up in a hug and spinning around.

"H-hi, Undyne! H-how have you been?" She returned the hug as best she could while being swung in a circle.

"God, I missed you. What have you been doing?" Undyne set her down.

She smoothed out her lab coat. "W-well, unfortunately, I can't t-tell you yet. It's confidential until w-we get more information about it." She shrugged apologetically. "S-sorry."

Undyne waved it off. "Hey, don't worry about it. I probably wouldn't understand what you were talking about anyway." She headed into the living room. "C'mon, everyone wants to see you!"

Alphys entered the room and was immediately attacked by a hug. "H-hi Frisk!" She laughed and hugged her back.

"I've missed you, Alphys!" Frisk was extremely happy. "We all have. What have you been doing?"

"W-well, like I told Undyne, I c-can't tell you. N-not until we know more about it. I-it's still a work in progress. But I can say this. It's r-relevant to what I studied before, but w-with so much more technology, it's much less hit-and-miss. I have a b-better understanding of what I am doing."

Asgore spoke up. "Does it have anything to do with... Souls?"

"S-sort of. But that's all I can say."

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND HALF OF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, ALPHYS. BUT IT ALL SOUNDS VERY INTERESTING." Papyrus was grinning widely. "I AM MOSTLY GLAD TO SEE MY FRIEND AGAIN!"

"Th-thanks, Papyrus. I'm glad to see you too."

Alphys joined everyone around the table and they began to talk. Toriel stood up.

"Does anyone want anything to drink? I'll go get some refreshments. Asgore, can you help me?"

Asgore looked at her, surprise written all over his face. "S-sure thing Tori... Er, Toriel. He stood up and followed her into the kitchen. As soon as they were out of sight she turned around.

"Asgore, I've been thinking." She started.

Asgore swallowed nervously. Those were usually not words he wanted to hear.

"Frisk... Well, she really loves you."

He was surprised. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"I saw that today in the way she ran up to you and called you dad. And I was thinking about it... Well, she could use a father figure. Sans and Papyrus help keep her in line, but they're more like older brothers than a parent. And the way she looks up to you..."

Asgore felt hope creep up on him. Was it possible that after all this time he was getting a second chance?

Toriel sighed. "And... Well, I'm not telling the whole story. I should be completely honest." She looked at him with a soft expression. "I've missed you, Gorey. All this  
time I've missed you so much. It... It broke my heart to leave you, and I didn't think I could handle being with you again. But... I think I'm ready. Do you... Do you think we could give this another shot?"

Asgore was stunned. "I'm... Of course, Toriel. I want to be with you again, to nuzzle noses once more. I just... Are you sure you want to? You seemed... Pretty adamant about not wanting anything to do with me before."

Toriel smiled sadly. "I wanted to distance myself. My heart and my soul yearned to be with you but my stubbornness kept me away. I didn't want to hurt myself, but now, seeing Frisk's love for you... I realized that you are a truly caring individual."

Asgore felt tears coming. "Toriel, I..."

She smiled. "You can call me Tori. I don't mind." She launched herself forward into a sudden hug. Asgore was caught off guard and stumbled before catching himself and returning the hug. They stood like that until they were interrupted by a throat clearing.

"You need some help with those drinks?" Undyne was looking at them, grinning from fin to fin. "See, Asgore, I told you she missed you."

Toriel smiled. "You were right, Undyne." Her expression became serious. "But do not tell Frisk yet. I want it to be a surprise."

"Gotcha." Undyne headed back to the living room to chat with the others. She walked in to see Alphys trying to explain some sort of scientific principles to Frisk and Papyrus.

"So?"

Undyne spun around to see Sans standing behind her, his usual grin wider than ever. "Dammit, Sans, stop doing that!"

He shrugged. "Just wanted to know how the royal family was making out. Or, I suppose, if they're making out."

"You know a lot more than you let on, don't you?" Undyne grumbled. "Don't tell Frisk, but it seems like they're getting back together. I'm really happy for them."

Sans nodded. "I could tell Tori had something on her mind. She's got this face she makes when she's thinking of something." He watched his brother ask a question  
and Alphys launch into a lengthy explanation. "I'm glad. Asgore deserves a second chance. After all, when he fought Frisk..."

Undyne paused. "But they didn't fight."

Sans froze for a second, realizing his mistake. "Oh. Um."

Undyne looked at him sideways. "Sans, is there something you aren't telling me?"

Sans shifted uncomfortably. "Eh, well, yeah, but, I mean, not really..." He struggled to find the right words. "Let's just... Eh, forget it."

Undyne stared at him for a long moment. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but only managed a shaky grin.

"Look, it's nothing important. Just something that could have been. But it isn't, so it's okay."

Undyne shook her head. "I'm not gonna try to understand what you're trying to say, but I'm just gonna do you a favor and forget about it. Alright?"

"Well, you've forgotten about it before, so I guess you'll do it again."

"What are you even- oh, never mind." She walked away to join the conversation with Alphys.

Sans stood there for a moment. He didn't want them to know about what had happened to them in other timelines. He didn't want them to feel the pain that they went through. He wished he could forget it too, but it was stuck in his head. The memory of a slashing knife rose unbidden. A red scarf lying in a pile of dust and snow. Undyne's terrifying death and rebirth. The eyes of another inhabiting Frisk's body. He wished with all his might that he could forget. He couldn't.

-End of Chapter Two.


	3. Sans' Job

Chapter Three

Frisk yawned and rolled out of bed. She rubbed her eyes and stood up. Sunlight was peering over the horizon. She shuffled to the closet to pick out an outfit.

Meanwhile, Sans was snoring away. The door to his room creaked open and a large figure crept in.

"Sans?" Toriel asked quietly. "C'mon, you have to go to work today,"

Sans groaned and rolled over. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, Sans. You made an agreement and now you have to fulfill your end of it."

"Uuuurrrrgghh." Sans dragged himself into an upright position. "I'm getting there." He glanced around the messy room. "Uhh, do you know where I put my uniform?"

"I don't know, Sans, but hurry up. I need to start breakfast." Toriel left the room and headed to the kitchen.

"I should really clean this place up," he muttered to himself as he sifted through a pile of clothes. "It should be here somewhere."

"Hey Sans!" A cheery voice greeted him and he looked up. Frisk was standing in the doorway, excited to start the day. "Are you really working at the school now?"

Sans smiled in spite of himself. "Yeah, kiddo. I'm the new janitor. I'm gonna be cleaning your school."

"That's awesome! Now two of you work there!" She ran down the stairs happily. Sans' smile slowly faded.

"Yeah... Awesome." He found the uniform and smoothed the wrinkles out. Sighing, he slid it on. It was pretty uncomfortable. He much preferred his hoodie and wondered if he could wear it instead. He made a mental note to ask if the uniform was mandatory. Heading downstairs, he passed Papyrus' room and heard faint  
snoring. He smiled to himself, glad that his brother was finally able to get some sleep at night. He usually worked himself so hard he would barely sleep, but ever since moving to the surface he had found himself able to relax much more.

"Ah, there you are, Sans. Hurry up and grab something to eat." Toriel was leaving the kitchen. "We don't want to be late."

Sans looked in the kitchen. There was an extra plate of French toast waiting for him. He grabbed it and began to eat hurriedly. Still eating, he followed Toriel and Frisk out to the car.

"This is great!" Frisk was even more cheerful than normal, which was saying something. "Now you're a janitor and mom's a teacher! This is so cool!"

Sans sighed and got in the passenger seat. He wasn't going to let his own thoughts dampen Frisk's mood, though, so he forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah."  
He lapsed into silence as Toriel and Frisk chatted. His thoughts were running rampant. Frisk seemed to have forgotten about the... darker turn of events that had transpired. However, she could clearly remember some of the other timelines. He shifted in his seat and wondered what had happened after his death. What could have happened to Frisk, and how did the events lead to her resetting? He shook his head. Better just focus on my job, he thought.

"Here we are, everyone!" Toriel pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine.

"Yaaaay!" Frisk climbed out of the back. Sans slid out of the car, resigned to his fate.

"Hey, um, Tori?" He asked as Frisk ran up to the school happily.

"Yes, Sans? What is it?" She looked at the skeleton kindly.

"Ehh, it's just... I don't think I'll fit in here, y'know? Being a skeleton and all..." He looked at his shoes. He had to leave his beloved slippers behind and he was missing  
their comfortable fit."

"Oh Sans," Toriel gave him a patient smile. "This school employs several monsters already. I'm a teacher, Asgore's a gardener..."

"Well, yeah, but you guys are all fluffy." He shifted awkwardly. "I may be nice, but I look kinda scary."

"Sans. Listen to me. You will be fine."

"...if you say so..." He sighed and walked in. Immediately he was assaulted by the sounds of children laughing and talking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to do this. They needed the money. Entering the office, he walked up to the secretary. "Hey, uh, I'm the new janitor. What exactly do I do?"

The secretary gave him a piercing stare. He wavered a bit. This was not his strong suit. "New janitor, huh?" She shuffled through some papers. "Alright, what's your name?"

"Sans."

"Sans..." She repeated, flipping through more papers. "Ok, you are supposed to report to room 34A. That's the janitor's closet. All the stuff you'll need is in there." She looked back up at him somewhat distastefully. "Welcome to our school." She didn't sound too sincere.

"Thanks," Sans replied. "I'll, uh, get going then." He turned around and left. Toriel was waiting outside the office.

"Well?"

"34A."

"Oh, that's near my classroom. I'll take you there." She smiled reassuringly and led Sans down the hall.

-End of Chapter Three.


	4. Alphys' Work

Chapter Four

Meanwhile, back at the house, Undyne was just waking up. She rolled over and grumbled something rather inappropriate about mornings. Suddenly, her face lit up as she remembered. Alphys was still here. She hurriedly got dressed and ran down the hall to Alphys' room. She barely paused to knock before barging in. Alphys was asleep face down on her desk, papers covered in illegible scribblings all around. Undyne grinned and gave her a big hug.

"W-wh-what's h-happening?" Alphys awoke in a panic. "H-help! Undyne!"

Undyne giggled. "I'm here, Alphys." She squeezed her harder.

Alphys calmed down. "Oh. I didn't realize it was you. And... D-did you just giggle?" She grinned mischievously. "That's a new one."

"Yeah, well... Shut up." She let go and looked at everything Alphys was writing. "What is all this?"

Alphys looked at her notes. "W-well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Th-they're calculations to determine the possibility of another l-layer of reality. Some of these are about how to access those layers, if they d-do exist."

Undyne looked at her blankly. "I understood none of that."

"That's why I c-could tell you. Like I said yesterday, it's all c-confidential." She smiled at Undyne. "B-But this wouldn't tell you anything by itself."

There was a crash downstairs. Undyne sat up. "Uh oh, I think Papyrus is up. Better make sure he doesn't burn down the house." Alphys laughed. Undyne looked at her seriously. "That's a real possibility."

The two headed down the hall toward the stairs. More pots and pans could be heard clanking. They walked into the kitchen to see the skeleton busily combining eggs, sausage, bacon and spaghetti in a pan.

"Err, Papyrus?" Undyne asked.

"HELLO UNDYNE! HOW ARE YOU DOING?" Papyrus greeted her while grabbing more ingredients. "OH, AND YOU TOO, ALPHYS!"

"...what are you doing?" Undyne asked as she watched him add orange juice and instant oatmeal to the mess.

"WELL, MY SPAGHETTI PANCAKES WERE SO GOOD, I DECIDED TO CREATE A NEW FOOD AGAIN!" He excitedly added a banana.

Alphys gently took his arm. "Papyrus, y-you may want to, uh, c-calm down a bit with the ex-experimentation."

Papyrus looked at the jumble of foods in the pan. "OH... YOU'RE RIGHT, I DID GET A LITTLE CARRIED AWAY..." His face brightened. "BUT WE SHALL SEE HOW THIS CONCOCTION IS!"

Even Undyne looked doubtful. "Yeah. Um. You can have the first bite, Papyrus."

"NYEH HEH HEH! YOU ARE SO GENEROUS, UNDYNE!" Papyrus grabbed the spoon he had been using and scooped a generous portion onto his plate. He took a large bite and froze, eye sockets wide. Running to the sink, he spit out the offending food. Papyrus had finally met his match.

Undyne and Alphys howled with laughter. Papyrus began to laugh as well.

"I SUPPOSE I BIT OFF MORE THAN I COULD CHEW." The skeleton lamented. He looked sadly at the pan. "I THINK I SHOULD LEAVE CREATING NEW FOODS ALONE FOR A WHILE."

"Yeah, th-that might be a good idea. We can just stick to f-food we have." As Alphys talked, her phone rang. She answered it. "H-hello? Y-y-yes, I can... What? Are y-you sure? O-okay, I'll be there as soon as p-possible!" She hung up. "Th-that was the lab. They need me. I'm sorry, guys, b-but I gotta go."

Undyne watched her hurry upstairs sadly. "She can never stay for long..." Her face brightened. "But it sounds like something is happening. Maybe the research will be finished soon!"

Papyrus smiled at his friend. "I HOPE SO! YOU ARE ALWAYS SO HAPPY TO BE WITH HER, AND I LOVE SEEING EVERYONE HAPPY!"

Papyrus' ability to state exactly what he was thinking was just what Undyne needed. She gave the skeleton a gentle punch on the arm and grinned. "Thanks, Pap."

Alphys arrived at the lab panting. She scanned her pass and hurried in the door. "W-where's Stewart? H-he called me about the project."

A startled aide pointed to the lab and Alphys followed his guidance. Bursting in, she was confronted by a large machine humming with energy and several people in lab coats standing around it. A portion of the machine was pointing to a window through which an empty room could be seen. Mark Stewart looked up from his clipboard at her as she entered.

"Ah, Alphys. Good to have you back. I'm sorry to have cut your visit short, but we finally managed to sync the power couplings. We need you to help us with the calibrations. After all, this project was your idea."

"Y-yeah, I know. It's alright. This is important." Alphys wasted no time in getting to work. She headed to a computer and began typing furiously, filling in parameters that only she understood. The machine began emitting a soft ruby glow towards the empty room. Alphys turned briefly to check the progress and returned to typing. Suddenly, a ruby beam shot from the machine and the empty room filled with a strange darkness.

"My God, Alphys, you did it!" Mark was staring at the dark room. "This is another layer of reality!"

Alphys stopped typing and ran to the window. The dark seemed to shimmer and fold around itself. For a brief instant she thought she saw a white face with hollow eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. She dismissed it as her imagination, although there was something familiar about it. "We're looking for anything that seems out of p-place." She looked at the other scientists, all clustered around the window. "L-like a small, white heart." Her heart was pounding. Could this really be what she was looking for? "If I'm correct, we should be able to find one."

"There!" One of the scientists pointed.

Alphys ran to their side and peered into the gloom. Indeed, there it was. A small white heart floating gently through the darkness.

A monster SOUL.

-End of Chapter Four


	5. Change of Plans

Chapter Five

Sans entered the closet. He flicked the light switch and looked around. He wasn't impressed. Buckets and mops were lying around and cleaning supplies lay  
haphazardly on the shelf. He heard Toriel's voice from the hallway.

"I have to get to class now, Sans. Remember, you'll do fine!"

He sighed and picked up a bottle of window cleaner. He had work to do. Leaving the closet, he headed down the hall. He had noticed the windows needed cleaning and decided that was as good a place to start as any. He headed outside and began spraying down the window. As he began to wipe it off, he heard a voice behind him.

"Wosh the window."

He turned around to see Woshua staring at him with his wide eyes. "Heya, buddy. Whatcha been up to these days?" He turned and continued his work.

"Cleaning. I'm cleaning everything." Woshua shuffled closer. "Gotta keep the world clean." He added.

"Cool." Sans stood there awkwardly for a second. "How's it going, then?"

"I need more to clean. Let me clean. You missed a spot." Woshua gazed at the window.

"Uhh, hold that thought, bud. Come with me." Sans had gotten an idea. He led the monster inside and headed to the office. The secretary looked up at him. He smiled nervously.

"What is it now, Mr. Sans?" She sighed heavily.

"Um, could I meet with the principal? I need to ask him something."

She frowned at her desk. "I believe he's free right now. Go ahead."

Sans thanked her and went to the principal's office. He looked up from a form he was filling out and smiled. "Hello, Sans. How has your first day been?"

"Well, uh, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this line of work, sir. It's... Not my strong suit, being clean. But I have someone here who would be the best janitor you could ask for." He gestured to Woshua, who had gone unnoticed due to his height. "This little guy makes it his mission to clean."

Woshua gazed at the principal solemnly. "Wosh u school." He said.

"Well, I ordinarily would need more time to consider changing staff, but as this is your first day, I think we can work it out." The principal opened a filing cabinet and took out a form. "Now, give me a minute to sort out the details of the new janitor. What's your name?"

"Woshua."

"Previous experience?"

"I clean stuff a lot. I live for sanitation."

Sans slipped out of the office. He had given up his job, but he felt good about helping Woshua out. Being a janitor wasn't exactly in his area anyway. He wandered outside and came across Asgore tending the flowers.

"Howdy Sans! Toriel told me you had gotten a job here."

Sans looked at his feet. "Not anymore. I gave it up."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You know Woshua? The little guy who loves to clean things? I recommended him instead." He looked back at Asgore. "Figured he'd do a better job and enjoy it more."

Asgore looked at Sans kindly. "That was very noble. You helped a friend, and he will be grateful."

"But now I'm not helping everyone at home out."

"Sans, you helped another monster, and that's worth it. Besides, I'm sure you'll find a better job somewhere. One where you can really show your talents."

Sans nodded slowly. "I guess you're right. I'll find something, I'm sure. Well, I'd better get home. See ya, Asgore." He was gone in an instant.

Asgore turned back to the flowerbed he was maintaining. His thoughts wandered to Toriel. Yesterday had given him hope for the first time in ages. He missed his wife dearly and wanted to be with her again. His decision fueled by anger and grief had cost him so much, despite how much he wished he could go back on it. He had to  
do it for his people, had to give them hope. He sighed and pulled a weed.

Sans walked in the door and called out. "Hey guys, I'm back. What's up?"

"SAAAAAAANS!" Papyrus ran to his brother and gave him a massive hug. "I HAVE MISSED YOU GREATLY!"

"Chill out, bro, I've only been gone a few hours." He hugged Papyrus back. "Good to see you, though."

"Hey, Sans." Undyne leaned against the doorframe. "Why are you back so early?"

Sans shrugged. "I quit. Didn't really work out and I found a replacement. I'll find something else. Where's Alphys?"

"ALPHYS IS DOING IMPORTANT SCIENCE THINGS!"

"She was called back to work. Something was going on there and they needed her." Undyne sighed. "I was hoping to spend a little more time with her, but..." She shrugged it off. "She'll be back soon, I guess."

Alphys ran to the computer. "I-I need to isolate that spot. We don't kn-know if it's safe to enter the room yet, and w-we can't risk losing the SOUL." She fiddled with the settings and the beam from the machine brightened. Slowly the darkness shrank until only a small bubble remained around the SOUL.

Mark came up behind her. "Now what? I know you said this project would help you get a SOUL back if possible, but what are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know for sure. I want to st-study it, see the way it differs from human SOULs." She paused. "And I think the other layer of r-reality may provide many other things to l-learn. Let's call it 'The Void' for now."

"How are we going to examine the SOUL, though?" Mark asked.

"I have blueprints of a c-container that keeps SOULs alive. I f-found them in my l-lab in the underground. I'm not sure where they came from, though." She pointed to what looked like a jar on the desk next to her. "We have to get it in th-that."

"Sir, I'm monitoring radiation levels inside the chamber. Everything seems to be normal." A scientist spoke up. "Should we send someone in?"

Mark hesitated. "Yes, but only in a hazmat suit. We want to be careful." He grinned. "Alphys, you're about to get a SOUL."

-End of Chapter Five.


	6. Back Home

Toriel and Frisk entered the house. "We're back!" Toriel called. Frisk ran in to the living room.

"Guys, guess what I learned today!" She shouted excitedly. "I learned what holds skeletons together!"

Papyrus looked up. "REALLY? HAVE YOU HUMANS BEEN STUDYING US? SANS! WE'RE POPULAR!"

Frisk giggled. "No, silly, humans have skeletons inside them! They're held together by ligaments!"

"WHAT? THAT IS RIDICULOUS! SKELETONS ARE HELD TOGETHER BY MAGIC! AND WHY WOULD SKELETONS BE INSIDE YOU?" Papyrus was dumbfounded. "TORIEL, I THINK THIS SCHOOL IS TEACHING FRISK INCORRECT THINGS."

Toriel laughed gently. "Frisk is right, Papyrus. Humans do have skeletons inside them. But they aren't alive, it's a part of them. They're different from you and Sans."

Papyrus grinned. "WELL THEN, MORE EVIDENCE FOR MY THEORY THAT HUMANS EVOLVED FROM SKELETONS!"

Frisk sat down and began to talk with Papyrus about what she had learned and Toriel walked over to Sans.

He looked at her, not quite meeting her gaze. "...hey Tori..."

"Sans, you are very noble. Asgore told me what happened. You have a big heart in that ribcage of yours. I am very proud of what you did."

"What? But I lost my job the same day I started. I can't contribute to the income. It was all just a mess." He sighed. "I failed."

"Failed? Sans, please, do not be so hard on yourself. Woshua cleaned more of the school in a single day than anyone thought possible. He's the best janitor we've ever seen. And you are responsible for that. I don't care that you aren't getting paid, you've done something better."

Sans brightened a little bit. "Yeah, I guess... But I still haven't helped the family. And I'll bet Frisk is disappointed I'm not working at the school."

Toriel sighed. "Well, I won't pretend that's not true. She does want to be able to spend time with you. But honestly, Sans. You're wonderful. Don't feel bad." She looked down at her watch. "Oh shoot, I have to go. Can you guys keep an eye on Frisk? I... need to meet Asgore." She started to blush.

Sans winked. "Sure thing, Tori. I goat your back." He stood up and headed over to the table to talk with Papyrus and Frisk.

"...and then we learned about the battle of Bunker Hill. It was pretty boring. I asked the teacher why they had to fight, but he didn't seem to understand. He just said that was how it worked." She sighed. "Humans can be pretty dumb. I saved an entire race by being nice, and everyone else thinks they have to fight for silly things."

"You're wise beyond your years, kiddo." Sans said affectionately. "You'll be a real force for good someday." Memories rose in his head of Frisk holding a knife but he pushed them aside. That was a different timeline, he told himself. Everything's fine now. 

Toriel pulled out her chair. "Sorry I'm late," she said apologetically.

Asgore waved her apology aside. "Not at all. I've only been here a minute." He opened the menu. "What do you want to order?"

The two of them were at a small café. They sat at an outdoor table as people walked past, some of them staring a little bit at the site of the two monsters. A flower box sat nearby and Asgore gestured to it.

"They are crowding those petunias a little bit. There should be more space between them."

Toriel looked at him with a soft smile. "You and your flowers. That's one of the things I loved most about you when we first met." She put a hand on his. "You're a bit of a flower yourself, Asgore."

He turned slightly red. "Tori, I'm sorry for what I did. It was terrible and-"

"Asgore, stop. What you did was wrong. But I see that once the decision had been made there was no going back. It... It really wasn't your fault. And I'm the one who should be sorry. My reaction was... poor. I love you deeply and shouldn't have left you all alone. You were distraught and needed comfort and I left when I should have been there for you."

"Tori..." He began but she stopped him.

"That's enough. I made my mistakes and I want to correct them. Move in with us. It's about time I got my Fluffybuns back."

-End of Chapter Six


	7. The SOUL Retrieved

Chapter Seven

Alphys stared at the SOUL in the jar. She finally had it. After ages of experimentation and the horrific results of injecting Determination, she finally had a monster SOUL to examine. She picked up a handmade scanner and pointed it at the SOUL. Hitting the button, it sent a light toward it. A small LCD screen returned the results. Love, Hope, and Compassion. Alphys sighed. That much she knew. But how was it bound together, how did it form a SOUL?

"Need anything, Alphys?" Mark stuck his head into the lab where Alphys was examining the SOUL.

"N-no, I'm okay."

"If you say so." Mark looked concerned. She had been awake throughout the night worrying if the SOUL would be stable. So far, everything had been fine. "I'll be in lab 4 if you need me."

Alphys nodded silently and started digging around in a drawer. She pulled out a notepad and started to write furiously.

This proves that monster SOULs aren't all destroyed by death. They simply move on to another plane of existence. By locating and recovering these SOULs we may be able to bypass death entirely. But should we? Is that ethical? Maybe it should only be used in cases where death took place before it should have. At any rate, a body would be needed before implanting the SOUL.

She decided to ask for advice. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed a number and waited.

Sans' phone rang. he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it "Heya,"

"Sans, it's Alphys. I-I need your advice. W-we've recovered a m-monster SOUL."

Sans sat upright. "Whoa, what?"

"Y-yeah. I managed to access a-another plane of r-reality. Th-there was a monster SOUL and we m-managed to obtain it. I know you have a scientific b-background and thought I'd ask you about it."

"Alphys…" Sans was shocked. "I don't know too much about SOULs. I'm more experienced in quantum physics. But according to that, accessing another plane of reality, well, that's nearly impossible. But you're the expert in SOULs. What do you need me for?"

"E-ethics. I-I didn't really think this all the way through. Now that I have a SOUL, w-what do I do with it?"

Sans grinned. "Actions one step ahead of your plans, huh? Well…" Sans paused. "I can think of one thing you should do. Tell everyone you can trust. And I mean everyone. Call it a hunch, but I feel like someone can put that SOUL to good use."

Frisk skipped in the door cheerfully, Toriel close behind her. Sans stood in the hallway to greet them.

"Heya, kid. How was your day?" He asked as she gave him a hug.

"It was great! We learned about all sorts of things! Did you know that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand?"

"Wow, uh, that's really cool." He grinned. "Did you know you're the greatest kid in the world?"

Frisk blushed. "Sans, you're embarrassing me."

"Well, it's true. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Alphys is coming back tonight."

"Already?" Toriel spoke up. "I'm glad she's able to, but why is she back so soon?"

Sans shrugged. "Best to let her tell you herself. And we'd better tell Asgore to come over. He'll want to hear it." He winked at Toriel.

"Well, I have some news of my own." Toriel announced. "But let's make sure everyone hears it, alright?"

They entered the living room to see Papyrus and Undyne locked in a fierce arm wrestling match. Papyrus was pushing with all his might while Undyne sat there completely relaxed.

"Oh, hey guys." she announced as she slammed Papyrus' arm to the table effortlessly.

"OWIE! UNDYNE, YOU TRULY ARE THE STRONGEST MONSTER I KNOW!" Papyrus rubbed his arm. "BUT I WILL BEAT YOU SOMEDAY!"

"Everyone, I have some great news." Toriel said. "I have reached a decision with Asgore, and he will be moving in with us. He and I are getting back together."

The room erupted in cheers and Frisk ran to hug Toriel. "Really? Dad's coming to live with us?"

Toriel returned the hug. "Yes, small one. He is. He'll be here tonight and will move in fully later in the week."

-End of Chapter Seven


	8. The SOUL Returned

Chapter Eight

Alphys hugged the SOUL jar as she made her way up the sidewalk. She was nervous about telling everyone about her research. After all, the last time she had experimented with souls, the results were disastrous. What would her friends say about returning to that area of study? She pushed her thoughts aside. They would stand by her, she knew. She reached up to ring the doorbell and Undyne flung the door open.

"Alphys!" She pulled the lizard in for another hug.

"C-c'mon, Undyne, it's only been a day." She laughed. "Careful, this thing is f-fragile."

Undyne noticed the jar. "What is that?" She asked.

Alphys hesitated. "I'll... I'll explain inside. Everyone sh-should hear this."

They entered the house and walked to the living room. Everyone was waiting for them. After greetings were shared, Alphys got straight to the point.

"I-in my research, I discovered the p-possibility of m-multiple layers of reality. Looking further into this, I theorized that per-perhaps monster SOULs are not destroyed, b-but only transition to the other reality. I decided to work on a way to access that reality, and I succeeded." She presented the SOUL. "This is w-what I retrieved from the Void."

There was a stunned silence. Alphys shifted uncomfortably under all the staring eyes. Finally, Frisk, with her eyes wide, spoke up.

"I... Alphys, I need you to trust me. I need that SOUL." Everyone turned toward her, surprised. What would the child possibly want with a monster SOUL? "Just... I can't tell you what it's for, but trust me. It's important."

Alphys spoke quietly. "I trust you, Frisk." She silently handed the jar containing the SOUL to her. "You believed in me when I d-didn't believe in myself. If y-you believe in yourself, w-well, that's good enough for me."

Frisk took the SOUL solemnly. "I'll be back, everyone. But this is something I have to do alone."

Toriel spoke up. "Frisk? Any other child I wouldn't let leave on their own. But you are special. You can do it, whatever it is you need to do. Just...please be careful, alright?"

Frisk nodded. "I will, mom. Don't worry." And with that she was gone.

Mt. Ebbot loomed overhead as Frisk carried the SOUL up the slope. Dusk was rapidly approaching. She pushed on, more determined than she had ever been. Pushing twigs aside, she stepped into a clearing with a massive hole. The entrance to the underground.

She carefully approached the edge. Luck had saved her before, but could she count on that again? She peered into the darkness below. There was no other way. Closing her eyes, Frisk leaned forward and fell.

Frisk opened her eyes. She was fine, laying in a bed of golden flowers. The jar with the SOUL was miraculously unbroken. She picked it up and hurried toward the entrance of the ruins. Bursting through the door, she stopped. A yellow flower was facing the opposite way.

"Frisk... I told you not to come back. It was a warning. Because that compassion I had before... Well, suffice it to say, it's gone." Flowey turned around. "And I have no qualms about what I'm going to do."

Frisk said nothing, just held up the SOUL and smiled.

Flowey froze. "How did you...?"

Frisk just set the jar down and opened it.

"But that's... How on earth..." Flowey was at a loss for words.

Frisk slowly lowered her hands into the jar and scooped it the SOUL. It hovered slightly above her hands as she brought it to Flowey. "Here." She said. "Be who you really are."

The SOUL began to resonate with Flowey's presence. It slowly floated to the plant and was absorbed. A glow filled the chamber and slowly faded.

Asriel was sitting on the floor.

He slowly opened his eyes. "Frisk...you came back to save me..." He looked up and stared into Frisk's eyes.

She simply smiled.

His eyes filled with tears. "Frisk..." He said again. He leaned forward and hugged her. She hugged back. Asriel was crying again.

They stayed locked in a hug for a long time.

-End of Chapter Eight

 **A shorter chapter, but I had to get his one out there ASAP. It's my personal favorite so far, so enjoy!**


	9. Welcome Back

Chapter Nine

It was raining by the time Asriel and Frisk made it home. Frisk had been filling Asriel in on all the details of their new life, although she left out the details of Toriel and Asgore's conflict. After all, she reasoned, it was over now and she didn't want to upset him. They approached the front door and stopped.

"Are you ready?" Frisk asked.

Asriel hesitated. "I'm a little nervous. I mean, I... I killed my dad. And now I'm here again."

Frisk put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, they don't remember that. And... That wasn't really you. That was Flowey. And you are not Flowey."

He smiled weakly. "I guess..."

Frisk knocked on the door. It was thrown open almost immediately by a worried Toriel. She started to say something and immediately trailed off.

Asriel smiled.

"Hi, mom."

An hour later, everyone had somewhat gotten used to the fact that Asriel was back. Asgore and Toriel had smothered him with hugs and kisses. They had fussed over his wet fur and made sure he was okay. Frisk had just sat and watched the exchange with a smile. Papyrus had been confused over the addition to the royal family. ("DID ASGORE CLONE HIMSELF AGAIN? AND SHRINK?") Undyne had celebrated nearly as hard as the king and queen. Alphys had been amazed at the way Frisk had used the SOUL. Sans had stood there, simply taking it all in.

A timer dinged. "Oh!" Toriel exclaimed. "That's the pie I was baking! I forgot about it with all that has been happening!" She hurried to the oven and opened it.

Asgore was still in shock. "My son... I can't believe it! You've really come back!"

Sans couldn't help himself. "You'd better believe it," He said. "This is AS-RIEL as it gets!"

Toriel set the butterscotch pie on the table. "We'll have to wait for it to cool. My little Azzy will be able to have my pie again!" She squeezed him in another hug.

He returned the hug. "I've missed it."

Alphys spoke up. "I don't want to ruin the moment, b-but I have to know. H-how did all this happen?"

Frisk looked at her. "It was you, Alphys. You made this happen. The flower you experimented on was filled with Asriel's essence. That was where he died. His dust fell in the garden and the flower absorbed it. When you gave it determination, he was resurrected. But..."

Asriel interrupted her. "I'll take it from here."

Frisk looked at him, worried. "Are you sure you're up to it?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. But I need to talk about it. When I was a flower, I was soulless. I couldn't feel any love or compassion. I was an abomination. I did some terrible things. And in the end, I tried to hurt all of you. I... I took your SOULs. But by doing so, I regained my compassion. Frisk... She saved me from myself. I remembered who I was. I was the one who broke the barrier. But I had to give all of the SOULs back. And in doing so... I became a soulless flower again. But Frisk... She's so determined. She wouldn't let me live that way. She told me she'd figure something out. And she did." He closed his eyes. "The most remarkable thing is that this SOUL... It's my own."

There was silence.

"Alphys, you recovered my SOUL from death. And for that, I thank you."

Alphys was stunned. "I-I don't know what to say. All I did was access a d-different plane of reality. Th-the first SOUL I saw I isolated and retrieved."

"Then call it fate." Asgore's deep voice rang out. "In fact, call it whatever you want. All I know is that my son is back."

"But dad, don't you care about all the terrible things I did?" Asriel's eyes were once again filling with tears.

"Asriel, none of that was your fault. In fact, that wasn't even you. You make love such a big part of who you are, that without it, you were a different person entirely." Asgore gave him a hug. "Those tears in your eyes? They are proof of that. You're crying because you care. And that's no weakness. Your tears are a symbol of your strength."

Toriel was gazing at Asgore with renewed love. Asgore wasn't usually an intellectual sort, but when it came down to it, he was wise. "That is right, my child. Your compassion is your strength. In that sense, you and Frisk are quite similar. In fact, when I first met her, I was reminded of you." Toriel seemed to recall something. "Hold on, when I first met Frisk... That flower... Was that you?"

Asriel nodded sadly.

"Oh, my dear child, I am so sorry."

Asriel stopped her. "That's alright. I was trying to kill Frisk at the time. I'm glad you stopped me."

"BUT ASRIEL, YOU WERE NICE TO ME!" Papyrus looked more confused than usual. "SO YOU COULDN'T HAVE BEEN ALL BAD."

"I was manipulating you. But now, if you can forgive me, I'd like to your friend for real." Asriel looked at the skeleton with hope in his eyes.

Papyrus was thrilled. "OF COURSE, ASRIEL! I'D LOVE TO BE YOUR SUPER COOL FRIEND!" Papyrus' enthusiasm was infectious and soon everyone was talking and laughing joyfully. They continued to celebrate Asriel's return late into the night.

-End of Chapter Nine


	10. New Issues Arise

Chapter Ten

"C'mon, Asriel. You gotta get up." Frisk shook her friend gently. "We have school today."

Two weeks had passed since Asriel's return. He had joined the school and was busy trying to catch up to the other students. Frisk was helping him the best she could, and he was making fast progress.

He moaned and pulled the blanket over his head. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Frisk replied firmly as she yanked the blanket off.

He reluctantly. sat up. "Fine. I'll get up." Asriel pulled himself into a sitting position and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked. "It feels earlier than usual."

"It's the normal time. 7:00. You're just tired. Some breakfast will help. Now let's go!" She left the room.

Asriel smiled. He couldn't help it. Frisk's cheery confidence made him happy. Even her face and that excited smile of hers brought a warm feeling to his heart. He wondered briefly why, but shook it off. It didn't really matter the reason. The fact that it did was enough. He got out of bed and looked in the closet. It was filled with striped shirts. He chose one and got dressed. Heading downstairs, he ran into Papyrus. "GOOD MORNING ASRIEL!" The skeleton exclaimed. "I HAVE SOME EXCITING PUZZLES PLANNED FOR LATER!"

Asriel grinned. He enjoyed solving the puzzles Papyrus created, and the joy it brought Papyrus was great as well. "It'll have to wait until I get home from school. But as soon as I do, we can get working on them."

"THEN I SHALL SEE YOU LATER! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Continuing downstairs, he found Frisk and Toriel already eating.

"There you are, Asriel." Toriel said. "Hurry up, we need to get moving."

Asriel rushed to the table and dug in to the plate of pancakes. He just had time to finish when Frisk pulled him out the door.

The bell over the door rang and Grillby looked up from the glass he was cleaning. Sans was walking in the door, head low. Grillby set the glass on the counter. He pulled a bottle of ketchup from under the bar and slid it to Sans wordlessly. Sans caught it and unscrewed the cap.

"Hey, Grillbz." He greeted him. Grillby nodded. "It's been chaotic lately. You heard about Asriel's return?" Grillby nodded again. "Well, I'm happy about it. But at the same time, I'm feeling alone. The kids are playing together a lot and Papyrus usually joins them. Alphys and Undyne spend a lot of time together. Toriel and Asgore spend a lot of time trying to make up to each other. Seems nobody has time for me."

"That's tough." Grillby replied.

"Yeah. Man, listen to me. I'm just complaining about everything. I should really just stop being so selfish." He tipped back the bottle of ketchup.

"You aren't selfish."

"What do you mean? Everyone is happy, I should be happy with them. Instead I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself." He sighed.

"You need to talk to them."

"What? No way. I don't want to make them feel bad. I'm not going to go to them whining about how my feelings are hurt."

"Sans." Grillby stood in front of him.

Sans put his head down on the bar. "Yeah, Grillbz?"

"You have knowledge that others don't."

Sans lifted his head. "How did you...?"

"You've seen things others haven't." Grillby was staring at Sans intently.

Sans sat completely upright. "Grillby, how the hell do you know this?"

"I see it in your eyes. They have seen tragedy. They have felt pain. And you feel alone. Nobody else knows what it is that you experienced."

Sans was shocked. Not only had Grillby just said more in one breath than he had ever said at all before, but everything he said was true. "How can you see all this? Is it that obvious?"

Grillby shrugged. "It's a talent."

"Well then, what do you suppose I do?" Sans stared into his half-empty bottle. "I don't have the slightest idea. But you've always got good advice."

"Talk to Frisk."

Sans looked at him. "Frisk? You sure?"

"Yes." He walked off to serve another customer.

Sans gazed ahead blankly as he finished his drink. He put some money down on the counter and left.

Toriel smiled at her class. "Who has heard of the Industrial Revolution?

Raise your hand if you have. Or if you don't have hands, raise your tail." She said, winking at Monster Kid.

Several students raised their hands tentatively.

"The Industrial Revolution was a period of time for humans when many things were invented. A lot of progress was made with technology. Monsters went through a similar situation. We discovered an area where human garbage fell from the surface. It was a good place to learn about how humans had changed over the years. Among the things we found were pieces of human technology. We used these and studied them to create technology of our own. One of the pioneers of this movement was Doctor Alphys, a scientist who, as a matter of fact, is living with us. She will come in tomorrow to talk more fully about her research." A student raised his hand. "Yes, Noah?"

"What kinds of things were in the garbage? We usually don't throw away computers and stuff."

"An excellent question. Most of the things we found were not working. They were broken phones, old computer parts, and more. But we took what we could and studied it to learn how they worked." Toriel glanced at the clock. "Oh, we are almost out of time. You may talk amongst yourselves for the rest of class."

Monster Kid, Asriel, and Frisk all turned toward each other. After Frisk introduced Asriel to MK, they had quickly become friends.

"Yo! This class is awesome! Toriel is the best teacher I've ever had!" MK was brimming with enthusiasm. "A class about monster history is pretty cool!"

Asriel nodded. "Mom's a good teacher. She always wanted to be one, too."

"I just wish we could have Undyne as a teacher. That'd be so cool! She could teach us how to fight!"

Asriel and MK discussed the merits of other teachers while Frisk stared out the window blankly. She had noticed Sans had been acting sort of odd lately. She resolved to talk to him about it.

"Frisk?" Asriel sounded worried. "You okay?"

She nodded, bringing herself back into the moment. "Yeah, I'm fine." But she wasn't. Something was stirring inside her.

-End of Chapter Ten


	11. The Bad Time

Chapter Eleven

Sans looked up as Asgore, Toriel, Frisk and Asriel all walked in the door. "Heya guys, how was school?"

"Pretty good," Asriel replied. Frisk was silent.

"ASRIEL!" Papyrus bounded down the stairs excitedly. "I HAVE PREPARED A PUZZLE FOR YOU!" The tall skeleton bounced up and down happily.

Asriel smiled. "Alright, Papyrus, show me!"

As Papyrus led Asriel away to show him whatever he had created, Frisk walked over to Sans.

"What's up, kiddo?" the skeleton asked. He stretched out and put his arms behind his head.

"Sans?" Frisk looked a little shaky.

"Yeah?" Sans sat up, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"You're upset." Frisk looked down at her feet. "I've noticed. And I'm sorry. I think Asriel would love to spend time with you. You just gotta ask. I'm sorry if I didn't reallyinclude you. It wasn't intentional."

Sans looked at Frisk for a long time. "Wow kid, you got me. I have been feeling kind of lonely, I guess. But really, there's something bigger I need to talk to you about. And...well, tibia honest, I don't want to. It's... not good." He sighed. Even his pun had failed to cheer him up. "Frisk, I know you made mistakes in some of the other timelines. I understand that. It happens. But there was one that...was worse." He stopped, looking at Frisk with pain in his eye sockets. "Frisk...you killed everyone. Deliberately. You killed Toriel. You killed Mettaton. You killed Undyne, then had to kill her again because she refused to die. You...you killed my brother. And you killed me." He took a shaky breath. A solitary tear traveled down his skull. "I can only assume you killed Asgore as well."

Frisk stared at Sans, an incredulous look on her face. "No...I wouldn't. I couldn't have. That's not...I only killed accidentally. I never meant to. And I always went back and fixed it if I did. There's no way." Frisk shook her head. "That can't be true."

Sans pulled her into a hug. "I know, kiddo, I know. I'm actually not sure it was you. I mean, it was, but the eyes...When you approached me in the hallway, knife by your side and locket around your neck, the eyes were wrong. Never have I seen so much hatred in a pair of eyes before. And you...your eyes show nothing but compassion and joy. It was your body, Frisk, but not your eyes."

Frisk hugged him tightly. "Sans...what happened? I...I need to know."

Sans took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "We fought. We fought a fierce battle. And I won. I... I killed you, Frisk. And it broke my heart every time. But I had no choice. You had killed so many, I had to stop you. And I did, many times. But you kept coming back. I'd win, and then there'd be a brief pause and I'd find myself facing you again, those eyes burning into mine. Until finally... you landed a blow. You killed me."

Frisk's eyes began to fill with tears. "No..."

"I'm sorry kid. But it happened." Sans squeezed Frisk reassuringly. "The important thing is that you tried to do better. Paps was right, anyone can be a better person if they just try. Although you've been a good person from the beginning. Something strange must have happened. I just wish I knew what."

Frisk sniffled. "The first human." she said.

Sans stopped. "Huh?"

"Chara. She was that way. Full of hatred."

"How do you know this?"

"Asriel told me. She hid it well, but she was filled with hatred."

Sans stiffened. "Alphys' research...she found other planes of reality. Do you think that a part of Chara could have survived?" The skeleton looked at Frisk worriedly. "And if it did...could it have taken over you?"

Frisk shrugged. "I suppose." She replied. "I don't remember any of this, so I'm not sure."

Sans nodded. "Honestly, that is the only explanation I can think of." The skeleton hugged Frisk again. "So it really wasn't your fault, kiddo."

Frisk buried her face in his jacket and let the tears flow. There was no stopping it now. "I-I'm so s-sorry," she sobbed. "I-I didn't want to. I-it wasn't me."

"C'mon, kiddo, it's fine. Everything's okay now. We're all alive and you're a good person once more. And you know what? I think you were fighting to be a good person the whole time." He grinned. "Chara is gone now. You're fine."

"B-but what if she isn't? Then what?"

"Then we'll deal with that if it comes to it." Sans gave her a reassuring hug and fell silent.

"Thanks, Sans. I'm just worried. If I killed you once, who can say I won't do it again? I don't want to hurt anyone!"

"You won't, Frisk. You're stronger than that."

Deep within Frisk, something stirred. It smiled. "The demon that comes when you call its name." It said to itself. "Thank you, Frisk. Couldn't have done it without you."

Chara had awoken.

-End of Chapter Eleven


	12. Comfort from a Friend

Chapter Twelve

Undyne rolled over and nearly fell out of bed. She dragged herself upright and rubbed her eye.

"Mornings suck," she muttered. She slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs. Heading into the kitchen, she was surprised to see Frisk already up. Toriel was cooking bacon for her with fire magic.

"Morning, punk." Undyne greeted Frisk affectionately. She ruffled her hair.

Frisk smiled weakly. "Morning." She said quietly.

"What's up? You tired or something?" Undyne asked.

"...yeah..." Frisk put her head down on the table. "Didn't sleep very well."

"Howdy, everyone," Asriel was coming down the stairs, still dressed in his striped pajamas. "Frisk, are you okay?"

She looked up and nodded. "Yeah, just a little tired. I'm... not feeling well."

Asriel looked concerned. "You were tossing and turning all night and mumbling all sorts of stuff. Were you having a nightmare?"

She nodded.

"Hey, cheer up, punk." Undyne said. "Dreams can't hurt you. And if they could, I'd beat them up before they got anywhere close to you." She grinned widely, showing her sharp teeth. "I'll keep you safe no matter what."

"Frisk, if you need anything for any reason, just ask." Toriel was returning with a plate of bacon. "We are all here to support you."

Frisk smiled. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right. It was just a dream." She took a piece of bacon. "Wow, mom, this is good."

"Thank you, my child."

"Oh? I gotta try some!" Undyne grabbed a piece and quickly ate it. "Nice!" She exclaimed.

Sans appeared suddenly next to Undyne and she nearly choked. "What's up?" He asked casually.

"Ngaaah! Sans, I told you not to do that!" Undyne was furious.

He just winked. "Welp, can't stay for long. I've got a job interview. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, Sans!"

"You can do it!"

"Screw you."

"Undyne! That's not nice!" Frisk scolded.

"Fiiiiiine. Good luck."

Sans grinned and vanished. The kitchen was quiet for a moment as everyone ate their bacon.

"That reminds me, I think I found a job," Undyne spoke up. "There's a gym nearby that's hiring personal trainers."

Toriel smiled. "That's great, Undyne. I'm glad you found something you'd enjoy."

"Yeah, I'm pumped. I'll be going to the interview Monday."

As Undyne and Toriel discussed jobs, Frisk and Asriel slipped away. They went into the living room.

"What do you want to do?" Asriel asked. "It's Saturday, so we have a long day ahead of us."

"Oh, I don't know. We should probably get dressed, though."

Asriel looked down at his pajamas. "Oh. Right." They headed upstairs only to run in to Asgore on the way down.

"Howdy, children. What do you have planned for today?" He asked, scooping them both up in a hug. "Something that needs a dad?"

"We don't know yet. We'll let you know if we need you!" Frisk hugged him back and the two headed to their room. "You can get dressed first, Asriel." She said. "I'll wait." He nodded and went inside. Frisk sat down in the hallway and let out a sigh. She buried her face in her hands. The cheerful face she was putting on was a front. Inside, she was a mess. What Sans had told her had really shaken her up. Memories began trickling through her head. She saw a Froggit, eyes wide with terror, turn to dust at her hands. A much more menacing Mettaton stand in her way only to be destroyed almost instantly. Toriel's shocked face as she was struck with a vicious blow. It hurt.

"Frisk?" Asriel had opened the door, now fully dressed, without her noticing. "What's wrong?" He was concerned.

Frisk realized she had been crying. She hastily wiped the tears away and forced a smile onto her face. "Oh, nothing. I'm... I'm..." The smile quickly fell apart and tears began to flow again. "Asriel..." She sobbed, suddenly standing up and hugging him. "I've done terrible things."

He was surprised. "What? Frisk, you're the best person I know. You'd never do anything bad."

Frisk shook her head. "I killed everyone. Every single monster. Even... Even you." A memory flashed into her head of a cowering flower pleading for its life and a knife slashing it to bits. "I showed no Mercy, I just killed endlessly." She hugged Asriel tighter. "I'm a terrible creature."

"Frisk..." Asriel led her inside their room and helped her onto the bed. He sat down beside her. "I did the same thing. I killed for fun. I was an abomination. But you didn't care. You saw the real me. And I see the real you. Remember what dad said? Your tears are a symbol of your strength. You are a good person. And I know this."

Frisk looked at him through her tears. The concern on his face touched her. He truly cared. "B-but I killed you. You... You were begging me for mercy and I killed you."

He shrugged. "I killed you too. Many times. Don't worry about it, Frisk. This was the past. You'll be fine." He put his arm around her shoulder. "I remember one thing from that timeline. You were not Frisk. You were Chara. And while Chara was my friend, they were not anything like you. Chara betrayed me. She manipulated me. Whereas you risked your life to save me. I can't think of anything braver than that."

Frisk sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Azzy." She hugged him.

He felt himself blush. "Hey, no problem, Frisk. I'm only telling the truth. Now let's forget about this and figure out what we're gonna do, Okay?"

* * *

Chara frowned. This was unfortunate. Frisk was strong and her friends were helping her. "I guess I'll have to try harder," she muttered. "But in the end, I will rise victorious." She grinned in her terrible way. "The world will fall at my hands."

* * *

 **I apologize for the delay, but I've been fairly busy as of late. Expect more frequent updates in the future!**


	13. Frisk's Trouble

Sans grinned at the audience. "So that's why I don't wear shoes," he finished. Laughter flowed through the crowd. It was a good night. Mostly. A heckler stood up in the crowd.

"Why don't you go back to the underground?" The man shouted.

Sans felt his temper flare. He quickly suppressed it and forced a smile. He had to deal with them using humor. "Well, I must say, it wasn't too bad down there. But the main problem I had was how bonely it got."

The audience cheered and the man slunk down in his seat. Sans was pleased. A simple pun, one borrowed from Toriel, but it did the job. He usually enjoyed dealing with hecklers, but sometimes they crossed the line. Another man stood up.

"C'mon, you're really not that funny. I've seen better acts from children!"

Sans was prepared. "Really? Huh. I thought I was doing a SANSational job." The audience roared.

* * *

"Heya everyone," Sans announced as he blinked into existence in the kitchen. "How's it going?"

Toriel jumped. "Oh, Sans, you startled me. Things have been pretty good today. The kids are in bed. How are you enjoying your new job?"

His perpetual smile widened. "It's great. I'm loving it. Although..." He stopped.

Asgore was sitting at the table. "What's wrong, Sans?" He asked.

"Well... Not everyone has really accepted monsters. There are some who clearly wish we never returned."

Asgore nodded. "That'll happen. You can never satisfy everyone. All you can do is your best and be grateful for those that do accept us in society."

Sans nodded. "Yeah, I guess. It still is frustrating."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Toriel said brightly. "Papyrus found a job!"

"What? Awesome! What is it?" Sans was thrilled.

"He works in the school cafeteria! Frisk was so excited to hear it. He'll start tomorrow." She laughed. "I had to tell him he can't serve only spaghetti, though. The students need variety."

"Oh? How did he take that?"

"I think he understands. He'll do a good job, and I'm sure everyone will love him."

* * *

"So how did it go?" Undyne asked. She and Alphys were watching anime together. Undyne was sprawled on the couch and Alphys was sitting on the floor beneath her.

"W-well, the students seemed to like me. I mean, it was a little bit scary, b-but they were nice." Alphys had visited Toriel's History of Monsters class and talked to them about her development of new technology from what they scavenged from the dump. "I-I'm glad I did it."

"Yeah, I'm proud of you. You really have gotten braver." Undyne responded.

"H-how was your day? Your new j-job started, didn't it?"

Undyne made a face. "Yeah, but it's not all that great. Humans are kinda wimpy. They don't seem to want to arm wrestle. I don't get it."

Alphys looked at her. "Undyne, y-you're a personal trainer. You're supposed to be a little more professional than that."

The former warrior just shrugged. "Eh, it's ok. I still enjoy it. I just wish I could test my strength against them."

"W-we all know who's stronger, though. You could kick their b-butts easily." Alphys replied reasonably.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT?" Papyrus entered the room.

"Oh, hey Papyrus. We were talking about my job."

"THAT IS NEAT! AND I CAN JOIN YOU IN THESE CAREER DISCUSSIONS! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NOW HAVE A JOB AS WELL! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Hey, that's awesome, dude! I'm so excited for you! What are you doing?"

"I AM GOING TO BE A LUNCH LADY!" Papyrus beamed.

"Um, P-Papyrus? You aren't a l-lady." Alphys pointed out.

"OH. RIGHT. THEN I SHALL BE A LUNCH SKELETON!"

"Sure thing, Papyrus. You'll be a great one!"

"ALL THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR LESSONS, UNDYNE!"

"Aww, c'mon, Pap, you're the best student I've ever had."

"THANK YOU, UNDYNE! THAT MEANS A LOT!" Papyrus was happier than ever.

"Hey, it's true!" She grinned. "Now whaddaya say we make some late-night celebratory spaghetti?" They ran off to the kitchen together.

* * *

"Psst, Frisk, are you asleep?"

"No."

"I had a question."

"Yeah? What is it, Azzy?"

"Umm," Asriel felt his face turn red in the dark. "Do you... Umm..."

"You okay, Asriel?" There was a note of mischief in Frisk's voice.

"Yeah, I was just wondering... Do you think of me as a friend?"

"Of course, Azzy. You're my best friend."

"Oh... Okay..." He felt disappointed without knowing why. "I mean, yeah. You're my best friend too."

They lapsed into silence, each with thoughts whirling around in their head. Eventually, they fell asleep.

* * *

Chara saw her chance. Frisk's subconscious mind was open. She grinned and forced her way in.

"Greetings, Frisk." She said. "It has been a while."

Frisk turned. Standing behind her was Chara, wearing a locket and clutching a knife. The evil smile was present on her face.

"I was worried I would never reawaken. You see, you fought me. I will say that I am impressed. I managed to steal your body and use your SOUL and determination, but you remained buried within. I destroyed everyone you loved. I brought death to the underground. But in the end, you did not let it stay that way." She looked at her knife, admiring the shiny blade. "I erased the world. And you, in your infinitely determined kindly nature, did anything you could to bring it back. Do you know what that entailed?"

Frisk found her voice. "Chara. Stop this. You are an echo of hatred; you are not even human. This doesn't need to happen."

Chara ignored her. "You gave me access to your SOUL. And you sure surprised me. You gained control over yourself very well. You shut me out and banished me into a corner of yourself where I was rendered useless." Rage flickered in her eyes. "I had to sit there, half conscious, watching you spare everyone. I should have had control! I should have been the one deciding the fate of monsters! Instead, you trapped me. It was terrible. And not only that, but you had locked away the memories with me. I was powerless."

"Then how did you get out? Why are you here now?" Frisk demanded.

"I am here because you have experienced so much emotion. Joy from bringing Asriel back. How is my former playmate, by the way? Still a crybaby who refuses to hurt anyone? No matter. That joy wasn't what brought me back, anyway. In fact, it did nothing. But when you learned about what I did to all your friends, you were devastated. Having such opposite emotions go through your head shook you down to the core of your being. And that is what reawakened me. And now, I will take control as I should have long ago."

"No."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. No. I've stopped you before and I will do it again." Frisk glared at her evil counterpart. "You will never control me."

Chara simply smiled sadistically and raised her knife. She lunged forward and slashed viciously at Frisk only to fall straight through her target. She scrambled to her feet and turned around. Frisk was gone. She roared with rage.

* * *

Frisk bolted upright. Chara was inside her. She needed to stop her. She wouldn't let Chara hurt anyone. Frisk slipped out of bed. There was work to be done.

End of Chapter Thirteen

 **I apologize for the long delay. I had no computer access for a while. Anyway, there should be more regular updates from here on out.**


	14. Gone

Chapter Fourteen

The incessant beeping of an alarm pulled Asriel from his dreams. "Friiiisk, can ya turn that off?" He said. The beeping continued. "C'mon, I promise I'll get up."

But nobody came.

He opened his eyes wearily. "Frisk?"

Frisk was gone.

He was awake in an instant. Hitting the button on the alarm clock, he scrambled out of bed and threw open the door. Maybe she had gone to the bathroom, he thought. Running down the hall, he discovered that the bathroom was empty.

"Frisk, where are you?" He muttered to himself worriedly. Hurrying downstairs, he checked the kitchen. Frisk wasn't there. But something else was. A note lay on the table. Asriel picked it up and read it with a sense of dread.

* * *

I have left because I am dangerous. I might kill you all. I don't know when it might happen, so I ran away. I don't want to hurt you again. I'm sorry. Goodbye.

* * *

Asriel's head sank to the table with tears in his eyes. He clutched the note to his heart and cried out. Toriel heard the sound and came running.

"Asriel? What's wrong? Where's Frisk?" Her voice was filled with concern. Asriel wordlessly handed her the note. She read it, her eyes widening as she did so. She dropped the note and ran for the stairs. "Asgore!" She shouted.

* * *

Soon everyone had gathered in the kitchen. They were all talking at once, arguing over what to do. Asgore grew tired of listening to the ruckus and decided to take control.

"Enough!" He shouted, a rarity for the king. Asgore hardly ever raised his voice. "We need to talk this over calmly. Now, I believe we are all in favor of looking for Frisk ourselves? Perhaps enlisting a few other monsters?"

They looked at each other, slowly nodding their agreement.

"If we call the police things will get dicey." Undyne offered. Everyone looked at her. "What? I'm not in any trouble with them anymore. That was only when I was young. And not the human police anyway. But the fact of the matter is, Frisk ran away. She obviously is dealing with some issues. So involving the police will only hurt her in the long run."

Sans nodded. "Undyne's right. And I know Frisk's problem." Everyone looked at him. "Asriel, I believe you know as well. Should we explain?"

Asriel hesitated, then agreed. "Yeah, as much as it hurts, the truth is important. Alphys, you studied determination, correct? Well, when you possess enough determination, you gain the power to alter time."

Sans looked at him. "Really? I knew Frisk could do that, but I didn't know why. How do you know?"

Asriel lowered his head. "When I was a flower, I could do it too. But when Frisk came around, her power overruled mine. I played with time before that, though. I would reset and do all sorts of things. Good, bad, everything."

"Impressive. But we won't talk about that now. Or ever, if you don't want to. It's okay. But what we do need to talk about... Well, none of you are going to like it." Sans took a deep breath. "In one of the timelines, Frisk was... possessed. I don't know how or what, but something took control of her and used her body and SOUL to kill everyone."

Silence.

"There were only a few survivors that Alphys managed to evacuate. To put it bluntly, she killed everyone in this room except for Alphys. But none of it was Frisk's fault. She was under the control of something else. I don't know what-"

"Chara." Asriel looked at his parents. "Do you... remember how Chara died?"

They were shocked. "O-of course. She became sick." Toriel replied, shaken.

"Not quite. She had a plan." He took a trembling breath. "Chara ate buttercups. She poisoned herself. All so I could take her SOUL and pass through the barrier. But there was more. When I absorbed her SOUL, she was able to take control. She was the one who brought her body to the village. But I regained control once we were there. When the humans attacked us, she wanted to... she wanted to kill them all. Not just the village, but every human. I refused though, and returned home. It cost me my life."

Everyone was silent.

"Chara came back. I don't know how, but she did. She took Frisk's body and SOUL and used them to try again. She wanted to destroy everything."

Sans spoke up. "From what I could tell, she was worried about Chara taking control again."

Asriel nodded. "She mentioned that. But I thought she was okay. Something must have happened to make her run away."

"No matter the reason, we must find her." Toriel was already standing up. "We are coming, my child!"

* * *

Frisk was curled into a ball sobbing. She huddled in Toriel's old armchair, which had been too much trouble to bring from the underground. The rest of the house was empty. She had lit a fire in the fireplace and simply given up trying to stay brave. With tears streaming down her face, she had given in to the terror she felt at the prospect of Chara's return. But they were all safe, and that was the important thing. While she was hidden from the world, they would not be hurt.

* * *

Undyne summoned a spear to slash through the undergrowth. She was searching Mount Ebbot with Papyrus and Alphys for the opening that led to the underground. They had considered it likely Frisk would return there and split up to comb the mountain. None of them actually knew how to get to the massive hole, and had to find it.

"UNDYNE?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah, Pap?"

"I'M WORRIED ABOUT FRISK. WHAT IF SHE GETS HURT? OR MAYBE SHE ISN'T HERE AT ALL?"

"She'll be okay. After all, she got past me, right?" Undyne hacked furiously at a thorn bush. "Frisk is tough."

"I SUPPOSE... BUT I AM STILL WORRIED."

"Did ya find anything?" Sans was suddenly standing in the middle of them all.

"N-not yet." Alphys replied.

"Damn. I called Snowdrake to see if he could do a flyover. He owes me a favor for teaching him some puns. Anyway, I think he should call back soon if he found anything. I'll go check on the Dreemurrs." With that he vanished.

* * *

"Anything yet?" Sans asked, appearing among the royal family.

"Nothing." Asgore sighed deeply. "How did Frisk ever find the hole in the first place?"

"Well, we simply must continue searching." Toriel was pushing her way through the undergrowth. Asgore had been using his trident to clear a path, and Asriel hung back looking worried.

Sans' cell phone rang. "Hang on, it's Snowdrake." He answered it and listened for a moment. "Alright, thanks buddy." He hung up. "East side of the mountain about 250 yards from the base. Let's go find Frisk."

-End of Chapter Fourteen


	15. Reunited

Chapter Fifteen

Alphys peered into the hole. "C-can you see anything, Undyne?" She asked.

"Not really, it's pretty dark in here." She replied. The warrior was carefully repelling down into the underground. "I still think I should just jump. Frisk managed that twice."

"YES, BUT WE CANNOT TAKE THAT RISK." Papyrus responded. "WE NEED YOU TO BE READY FOR ANYTHING."

Undyne grumbled and continued her descent. She knew Papyrus was right, but she was worried about Frisk and felt like she was wasting precious time going so slowly. The skeleton had a point. It was possible Chara had taken control. If that was the case, Undyne may need to defend the group. She hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

* * *

Frisk heard a sound from outside the house. She stiffened. Had they found her? She slowly sat up, hoping that she was just hearing things. There were definitely footsteps outside the room.

"No," she whispered, "please no."

Undyne peered cautiously into the room, spear at the ready. She relaxed when she saw Frisk, but only slightly. "Thank god you're okay, punk. Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"S-stay away from me! I'm not safe!" Frisk cried.

Undyne let her spear dissipate. "No, Frisk. You're fine. You're still you." She turned and called out behind her. "Guys, I found her!"

"No! Stop! I'm dangerous! I don't wanna kill you!" Frisk pleaded, tears in her eyes. "Chara is fighting for control and I can't hold her off forever!"

Undyne strode up to Frisk and grasped her firmly by the shoulders. "Even if you can't, we aren't going to leave you. What did I do? I threw countless spears at you! I fought you, trying to take your SOUL! And what did you do? You came to my house and tried your best to be my friend. You wouldn't leave me when I felt bad about losing. And I won't leave you when you're having a bad time."

Frisk looked at the fish through her tears and attempted a small smile. Just then, Toriel came crashing into the room.

"My child, are you hurt? Do you need anything? I was so worried!" With that she broke into tears and simply hugged Frisk, sobbing.

"Mom..." Frisk said, hugging Toriel. "I can't do this! I can't leave but I can't stay! What do I do?"

"My child, I do not know. But for now, let us go back home. I will make some pie, and we will not worry about anything."

Papyrus burst in. "HUMAN! ARE YOU OKAY? IF NOT, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE IT SO THAT YOU ARE!" He stopped, seeing Frisk and Toriel in their hug. "OH, GOOD! EVERYTHING IS OKAY!"

Frisk looked up at the skeleton and smiled shakily. "Y-yeah, Papyrus. Everything is going to be fine. I'm gonna be okay."

Undyne frowned slightly. While Papyrus was happy with this answer, she could easily tell Frisk didn't believe it herself.

Alphys and Asgore ran into the room, both relaxing as they saw Frisk was safe. Sans was moments behind them, popping into existence in the middle of the room. That left one last member of the family.

Toriel turned to Asgore. "Honey, where is Asriel?"

Asgore turned pale. "I thought he was with you."

Tears began flooding down Frisk's face once more. Now Asriel was lost, and it was her fault.

Undyne was already running toward the exit of the house. She sprinted out the door and stopped. Asriel was sitting under the gnarled tree with his face in his hands. "Asriel?" She asked.

He looked up and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm here. What's up? Is Frisk okay?"

"She's fine. But what about you? Don't you want to see her?" She looked at him and saw pain in his eyes. "You know she cares about you."

Asriel nodded. "I know, but..."

Undyne cut him off. "No buts! Just get in there and tell her how you feel!" She recalled Papyrus saying a similar thing to her at one point. "Yeah, I know how you feel. Even if you don't understand it. Now go see her!"

Asriel looked at her and gave a real smile. "Thanks, Undyne." He headed inside.

There he found everyone clustered around Frisk trying to comfort her. Papyrus was offering to make spaghetti, Asgore was offering to make tea with it, Sans was cracking jokes, Alphys was inviting Frisk to watch anime, and Toriel was simply hugging the poor child. She looked up and saw Asriel. The sadness in her face faded, leaving only traces behind.

Asriel looked down at his feet. "Hey, Frisk. You okay?" He mumbled.

Her arms wrapped around him and squeezed. He looked up and saw Frisk staring at him happily.

"C'mon, Frisk. Let's go home.

* * *

Chara saw her opportunity. Taking over Frisk was a lost cause. But now there was another target. One that had been useful in the past, although unfortunately not as useful as she had hoped. But she had more experience now. She knew what she was doing. It was time to make her move.

-End of Chapter Fifteen


	16. Chara

Chapter Sixteen

Asriel woke up in a panic. He couldn't see anything. Darkness surrounded him, crushing him on all sides. He realized he wasn't in his bed. In fact, he wasn't anywhere. Asriel was within himself.

Footsteps echoed and a figure walked calmly out of the gloom. It was Chara.

Asriel struggled to his feet. "Wh-what?"

"Hello, Asriel. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" She grinned evilly. "I've missed you."

"Chara, I... I've missed you too. But why did you do all that awful stuff?" Asriel asked.

She ignored his question. "Well, I didn't really miss your company. I missed your usefulness. You were always so agreeable. 'Golly, that sounds like a great idea!' and 'Of course I'll help you, Chara!' But now, you've unfortunately seen the real intentions I've had. So cooperation isn't an option."

"Chara... Why? You were my sister... I loved you!" Asriel felt tears forming in his eyes.

"Love?" Chara sneered. "Love is useless. LOVE is how you gain power. Now I can increase that as much as I want. Thank you for becoming so close to Frisk. I was able to use your connection to transfer hosts. And your will is easily bent. Well, goodbye for now Asriel. I have work to do." And with that she faded, leaving Asriel crying in the darkness.

* * *

Frisk jerked awake. Something was wrong. She could feel it. Sitting up, she looked at the bed next to hers and gasped.

Asriel was sitting there, but not as the young prince. He looked as he did when he had absorbed all of the SOULs, as the Absolute God of Hyperdeath, save for one thing. Rather than pinpricks of white for his pupils, his eyes burned with a scarlet hue. He grinned, showing his sharp teeth.

"You know, Frisk, it would have been so easy to kill you now. But I decided against it. It's not much fun unless you suffer. And believe me, you will suffer."

"As-Asriel? What... No." Frisk's eyes grew hard. "You aren't Asriel. Chara."

Chara laughed sardonically. "Oh, well done. Bravo. You figured it out."

Frisk backed away. "Chara. Leave Asriel alone."

"What, and not have the opportunity to rip all of you to shreds? No thanks. Asriel's body is far better than yours anyway. Apparently he still retains some powers from before. Interesting. I'll have to try them out." She raised her hand and a beam of red light shot from it, enveloping Frisk and rendering her immobile. "Impressive."

Frisk struggled against the magic. "Why are you doing this, Chara?"

Chara's face twisted into an ugly expression. "Humanity is worthless. Monsters are useless. They both failed me. I fell into the underground on purpose, you know. My family was terrible."

"I did the same." Frisk replied softly. "My parents were horrible."

Chara sneered and waved her hand, sending Frisk crashing into the wall. "Yeah? Well, what did you learn from it, huh?" She lifted her hand and Frisk flew up to the ceiling. "You decided to be nice? You thought that would be great, huh?" She lowered her arm and Frisk slammed on the floor.

Toriel called from downstairs. "Is everything all right up there?"

Chara's eye twitched. "Oh, mother. She was so eager to see the good in me that she saw it when there was none. Useless old woman."

Footsteps came toward the room. The door flew open and Toriel stormed in. She stopped, confused. "Asriel...? What is going-" She was cut short as a beam of light caught her in the chest and flung her against the wall.

"It's Chara," Frisk choked out. "She's taken over Asriel."

More footsteps. "Oh good, everyone is coming. Saves me the trouble of finding them." Chara grinned, turning to the door.

Papyrus and Sans burst in, Papyrus wielding a bone and Sans' left eye glowing. Undyne appeared behind them, magical spear held at the ready. Alphys peered out from behind her, unsure of what to do.

"Heya, kid." Sans said to Frisk. "Looks like we've got someone who needs to get dunked on." He turned toward Chara and summoned a Gaster Blaster. Its eyes lit up as its mouth opened and fired a beam of searing magical energy. It simply wrapped around Chara and dissipated. She smiled.

"I had plenty of that before, Sans. Nice try though." She reached out and rendered everyone immobile. "But somebody is missing. Where is the king?"

"Gardening." Frisk managed to say. "Tending to the life outside. Because he cares."

"Oh please. What a pathetic leader." She tightened her fist and Frisk cried out.

"Stop this at once, Chara!" Toriel reprimanded. "I thought you were better than this."

"Oh, you mean you thought I cared? You thought I loved my family? You were means to an end. I've killed you before, mom. I'll do it again in a heartbeat. But this..." She looked at her captive audience and grinned evilly. "I'm having way too much fun." She nodded at Undyne. "Besides, killing you may prove to be a mistake. I learned that with you. Your refusal to die was a major annoyance."

"Damn right it was," Undyne growled. "I don't remember what you're talking about, but I can tell you I enjoyed it. Sans told me I killed you many times."

"Yes. It was unfortunate. Now, I need the king up here. I'm not going to be satisfied until everyone is under my power."

"Well, you've got what you want." Asgore was standing in the doorway, holding his trident out in front of him. "But I'm not going to fall under your control."

"Oh, father. Glad you could join us." Chara reached out and shot a beam of light at Asgore. He raised his trident and deflected it off to the side.

"This was forged eons ago, before the war." He said, hoisting the trident aloft. "Magic cannot possibly defeat me. It will block the strongest spell you can throw at me."

"Oh. That's a shame. Good thing I have this." In one quick motion, she pulled a knife from the folds of her robe and threw it. It spun end over end and buried itself in Asgore's shoulder. He gasped with pain and dropped the trident.

"Ahh, I do love knives. This magic is working well, but I'm glad knives are still here for me." With that, she shot a beam at Asgore once more, freezing him in place. "Now that I have you all in my control, what should I do?"

"You should stop this." Frisk replied, an edge to her voice the others had never heard before. "Before I break my pacifist nature for the first time. Because I tried, Chara. I did everything I could. But you are lost. There's nothing left. I'm sorry, I truly am. But at this point, I have no other option. And to make matters worse, you hurt Asriel. He had nothing but love towards you and you betrayed him." Frisk closed her eyes. "I am determined, Chara. Do you really want to take your chances?"

"Yes." Chara sneered and closed her fist. The monsters looked on in horror as Frisk choked and collapsed. The glow surrounding her faded, but she didn't move. Frisk was gone.

-End of Chapter Sixteen

Author's Note: THIS IS NOT THE END. You probably figured that out, but whatever. I just don't want anyone to freak out, because more is coming, and it will be great. Also, I want to thank you all for your support. This is my first work and I have received so much positive feedback. I'm glad that you all are enjoying Uppertale. It really means a lot to me. That being said, I'd like some advice. Would you like more to happen after this story arc is complete? If so, is there anything in particular you'd like to see? Let me know and I'll work it into the story as best as I can. Thank you again!

Until next time,

Umbreon31


	17. It's The End

Chapter Seventeen

"Well. I'm glad she's out of the way." Chara looked at Frisk's lifeless body with a pleased expression

.

"Chara..." Toriel cried, tears rolling down her face. "You are no longer my child."

"Never was to begin with. Maybe you thought so, but to me, you were never my mother."

"HUMAN?" Papyrus looked at Frisk, unable to comprehend. "FRISK, WAKE UP! SANS, WHAT'S WRONG?"

Sans said nothing, only glared at Chara with his eye blazing intensely. Alphys was sobbing and Undyne was struggling to escape Chara's grasp, her good eye filled with rage. Asgore had simply lowered his head in grief, his shoulders shaking.

"Oh please. You guys are all so pathetic." Chara sneered as they fought to escape. "Don't worry about Frisk. You'll be joining her soon enough." She raised her hand and summoned a large sword. "Asriel called this Chaos Saber. Cute. You want to know what I call it?" She grasped it and admired the blade. "Useful." She drew back her arm, preparing to strike at Asgore.

And stopped.

Frisk was standing behind her, holding her wrist tightly. She gazed at Chara with a steely expression. "They won't be joining me," she said. "I'm coming back to them."

Chara stared at Frisk, shocked. "How did you...?"

"Don't you remember how you came back to life? Determination brought you back."

"Yes, but-"

"But you had to reload a SAVE. For me, I learned something new. I will not die until I am good and ready. I refuse." Frisk squeezed Chara's wrist, causing her to cry out and drop the sword. "You may have had control before, but my determination wouldn't listen to you completely. I've mastered it, and now you have no hope of defeating me."

Chara stared at Frisk, hatred burning in her eyes. She saw the truth in what Frisk was saying.

"Now, Chara. Leave Asriel. Go away.

Chara sneered. "I may not be able to kill you, but that won't stop me from killing everyone else." She raised her free hand, preparing to close it, but got no further than that. Frisk drew back her fist and punched. It landed squarely on Chara's jaw and sent her sprawling. Before she could get up, Frisk threw herself on top of her and pinned her down.

"Chara, I don't want to hurt you. But you've given me no other choice."

Frisk was enveloped in a red glow and thrown across the room. She hit the wall and crumpled to the ground. Chara got to her feet.

"Well, that gives me an advantage. Because I definitely want to hurt you." She advanced towards Frisk, picking up the dropped sword. "If I can't kill you, I'll just make you suffer."

Frisk slowly stood up, clutching her shoulder. "You can try." As Chara swung at her, she jumped to the side, dodging the attack. "What, you thought I was going to stand there and take it?"

From across the room, Sans snorted.

Chara's eye twitched as she remembered the struggle with Sans. It was enough to throw her off. Frisk took the opportunity and threw herself at Chara once more. This time, she called upon her SOUL.

ACTing would get her nowhere.

She couldn't beat Chara in a FIGHT.

She had no ITEMs.

MERCY wouldn't have any effect on Chara.

That left one option.

SAVE.

Asriel was in there somewhere, wasn't he?

She reached out and called his name.

And everything faded to black.

"Frisk? Wake up, Frisk!" Asriel shook Frisk. She stirred and slowly sat up.

"Azzy?" She murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But what are you doing in here?" Asriel asked. "It's not safe. Chara is here!"

"It's worse out there. She's controlling your body. Everyone is in trouble."

Chara appeared out of the darkness, once again as a child. She held her knife aloft.

"You know, I am getting very tired of this, Frisk. I need to destroy you quickly. My grip on the others is weakening while I'm in here. So please cooperate and die."

Asriel stepped forward, placing himself between the two humans. "You won't get to Frisk. Not while I'm in the way."

"Oh, Asriel. If only you were this brave all those years ago. Then we would have freed monsters and destroyed humanity. But instead, you ran away. A shame, really."

"Yeah? Well, it seems to me that monsters are free and humanity still exists. So everything worked out in the end."

"No. Humanity needs to cease to exist. That will be how everything ends happily. They hurt people, they destroy the environment, they ruin everything."

"Do they? Are you sure?" Asriel gestured towards Frisk. "What about her? She single handedly saved all monsters. Frisk is living proof there are good humans in the world. It's not fair to condemn an entire race because of things done to you in the past."

"Not fair? Nothing is fair. For example, is it fair that I have to kill you to get to Frisk? No. But that's not stopping me, is it?" Chara lunged forward, knife outstretched. It clashed against another blade. Asriel stepped back, surprised. He found himself holding Chaos Saber. He looked at it, realization dawning on him. He could fight back.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Frisk. She smiled at him.

"Azzy, I will fight by your side. Don't worry. We'll do this together."

Asriel looked down at the sword in his hand and then back up at Frisk. He nodded slowly and transformed. The Absolute God of Hyperdeath was back.

Chara stepped away. "Well, Asriel, I'm rather surprised. I never thought you'd be brave enough to assume that form."

"There's more than one form of bravery," Frisk retorted. "And Asriel has the best of all. He's a peacemaker. But he knows when peace isn't an option."

"Well put, Frisk. Now, Chara, would you care to stop now?" Asriel glared at his former friend.

"No. I will never stop. This is unfortunate, but I will still destroy you." Chara grinned and leapt forward. She slashed at the air with her knife, causing a blade of magic to spin toward Asriel. Frisk dove in front of him, projecting her SOUL in front of her as it turned green and stopped the projectile. Asriel was surprised.

"Magic? How?"

Chara tossed her knife, flipping it end over end before catching it again. "I've learned some things. An advantage of hatred is that death can let it fester and grow stronger. And I learned to harness it." She raised a hand and several blades formed in the air, razor sharp points aiming at Asriel and Frisk. Lowering her hand, she cast the blades toward the pair. Frisk raised her green SOUL again to intercept the blades as Asriel called upon Galactica Blazing. Stars rained from above, surrounding Chara. She ducked out of the way, nimbly weaving amongst them and slashing at others before they hit her.

"Azzy, watch out!" Frisk cried as a blade formed behind him. He ducked as it swung and managed to avoid it. She then aimed her SOUL toward. Chara, turning it yellow as she did so. She fired off a few quick shots, one of which struck Chara in the side. She merely shrugged it off and summoned a storm of blades. One of them struck a glancing blow on Asriel, causing him to cry out.

"Ahh, that's what I'm looking for." Chara observed.

Asriel looked at her with newfound pain in his eyes. He raised his arms and summoned Chaos Buster II. "Chara," he began as he took aim. "I cared so much for you." He fired once, one shot striking her. "I saved your life!" He fired again, this time hitting her multiple times. "You were my greatest friend!" Tears filled his eyes. "But in the end, you betrayed me. You never cared about me, while I cared so deeply about you!" The shots were becoming more rapid. "You are no longer my sibling!" He shouted as he unleashed the full force of the blast. It cleared away and left behind nothing but a heart shaped locket. Asriel broke down and sobbed, transforming back into a young child and kneeling on the ground. "She was never my friend." He cried.

Frisk placed a reassuring hand on his back. "She may have not been your friend. But I am. And nothing will change that."

-End of Chapter Seventeen


	18. A New Beginning

Chapter Eighteen

Frisk and Asriel sat up together. Everyone was clustered around them worriedly.

"Oh, my poor children," Toriel exclaimed, smothering them with a hug. "Are you all right?"

They nodded.

"HUMAN! YOUNG ASGORE! YOU ARE SAFE! I AM QUITE RELIEVED!"

"Don't do anything like that again, kid. I'm not gonna fibu-lie, you scared me out of my skull."

"I d-don't know how you did it, but you defeated Chara! W-well done, you two!"

"Nice work, punk. Couldn't have done better myself. I only wish I could have helped you two out."

"Anyone care for some tea? I could use some to calm my nerves."

Through all of this, Asriel was simply staring into the distance. The locket was clutched in his hand. Frisk put her arm around him. He jumped, startled.

"Do you need anything, Azzy?" She asked softly. "Anything at all. A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a hand to hold. I'm here."

He looked at her with a sad smile. "Thanks, Frisk." He glanced down at Chara's locket. "I... I do need something."

They stood on a hill with the sun setting behind them. Asriel was looking at the bed of golden flowers with a single tear rolling down his face. A mound of dirt lay in the center, covering the only remnant of Chara.

"She was horrible." He said bitterly. "But she was my friend. Or so I thought."

Frisk said nothing.

"But now I have you." He turned to Frisk. "And I couldn't ask for anyone better." He looked at her, eyes shining. There was grief in his gaze, but also a ray of hope. She smiled back at him.

"Nor could I, Asriel." She took his hand. "Let's go home."

-End of Chapter Eighteen

Author's note: I know this chapter is really short, but I felt there were a few loose ends to tie up. Also, to address concerns over the last chapter, this is not, in fact, the end of the story. It is only the end of this particular story arc, and more will come. The title there was a little misleading, sorry. But once again, if you have any suggestions, let me know. A certain character you want to make an appearance? An event you'd like to happen? Just tell me and I'll do my best to work it into the story! No guarantees, though. Also, on a side note, MTT will be making an appearance soon. He's just been busy making a name for himself. Anyway, that's all I have for now.

Thanks again for all your support,

Umbreon31


	19. Back On Their Feet

Chapter Nineteen

"Hurry up, Asriel!" Frisk called. Asriel hastily shoved his binder into his backpack and rushed out the door to join Frisk in the hallway. "You got everything?" She asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "What's the rush?"

"I just want to get a good spot in line." She was already heading towards the cafeteria. "We're having ravioli today."

Despite what Toriel had told him, Papyrus had managed to influence the meal plan enough for almost every meal to contain some form of pasta.

The two kids reached the cafeteria and found a spot in line. Another familiar face was hurrying towards them, although it took a slight detour to plant itself on the ground. Monster Kid stood up, grinned, and shook it off.

"Yo! What's up, guys?" He was bouncing excitedly. "I can't wait for lunch!"

"Not much," Frisk replied, casting a quick glance at Asriel. His eyes were downcast. "Just the usual."

"Yeah," Asriel echoed. "The usual."

Monster Kid didn't seem to notice Asriel's gloomy mood. "Yo, the math teacher, you know, Mrs. McHale, she gave us so much homework!" He shifted from foot to foot. "I'll never finish it!"

"Don't worry, MK. We'll help you. Right Azzy?" Frisk nudged Asriel, trying to perk him up a bit. He looked up and nodded, a small smile on his face.

They advanced through the line, talking about various classes. Frisk grabbed a tray for herself and MK. She slid it along the counter and approached Papyrus.

"HELLO FRISK!" The skeleton beamed happily. "DO YOU WANT SOME RAVIOLI?"

Papyrus was wearing an apron with "Cool Dude" written on it. He held a ladle filled with pasta proudly. A hair net covered the top of his skull, despite being unnecessary. In Papyrus' own words, the hair net was "the mark of a great lunch lady."

"Of course!" Frisk turned to Monster Kid. "You want any?"

"Yeah!"

Papyrus happily served them the pasta. "AND HOW ABOUT YOU, ASRIEL?" He had finally figured out who was who in the Dreemurr family.

"Yeah, thanks Papyrus." Asriel held up his tray as the skeleton served his ravioli.

The trio proceeded through the line and eventually sat down at a table. Frisk started eating heartily and Monster Kid buried his face in the plate, managing to keep his face clean from years of practice. Asriel just took small bites chewing slowly. Frisk watched him, concerned. He hadn't been as cheerful since the incident with Chara, but he seemed especially subdued today. She would have to ask him about it later.

Woshua slowly shuffled past the table. Frisk was pulled from her thoughts and waved at the janitor. He raised the bottle of cleaning solution he was carrying solemnly in a salute as his bird friend twittered happily.

They continued to eat until the bell rang, sending them scrambling to their next classes.

Alphys sat at her workbench, tinkering with a jumble of spare parts. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" She shouted.

The door flew open and Mettaton came whirling into the room. He rolled up to Alphys and hugged her.

"Alphys, darling, it's been too long," he said.

"You were here l-last week."

"But it felt like an eternity!" He raised an arm to the top of his rectangular head. "I have missed you dearly!"

"Yeah. Wh-whatever you say, drama queen." Alphys began rummaging around in her desk.

"Why, thank you."

"Where did I put it? No... Ah, h-here it is!" She pulled out a metal cylinder. "Here you go, M-Mettaton! I've made a m-much more powerful b-battery!"

"Oh Alphys, how can I thank you enough?" The robot bowed to her.

She rolled her eyes. "Just switch f-forms so I can install it."

"Of course, darling." He spun around and emerged as a humanoid. "Oh, this feels so much better." He purred.

"Yeah, yeah. Now h-hold still." She opened a panel in his chest and got to work.

"Just how powerful is this battery?" Mettaton asked.

"'Ould las' all 'ay" Alphys replied, a screwdriver held between her teeth. She took it out and made some adjustments. "And that's in y-your EX form."

"Alphys, you are a genius!" Mettaton exclaimed. "I have been waiting for this day! The stars in the sky shine down upon me, calling me to join their ranks! I shall be the celebrity I have always wanted to be!"

"Uh huh." Alphys replied, focusing on her work. "There we go." She closed the panel. "You're all set!"

"Thank you so much, darling! How can I ever repay you?"

"Ah, d-don't worry about it. C-consider it a gift f-from a friend."

After one final hug, the robot left, dreaming of his bright future. Alphys watched him go with a sad smile. She just hoped he wouldn't forget about her.

-End of Chapter Nineteen


	20. New Troubles

Chapter Twenty

Sans walked offstage, proud of his performance. He had gotten some good laughs. Becoming a comedian was the best thing that had happened since leaving the underground. He saw the Drake family rehearsing their act and nodded toward them. The father and son had gotten to be a good team, and Mrs. Drake was always there to support them, despite being a melted combination of monsters.

He called upon his magic for a quick teleport home. It was a useful power to have, he reflected. It seemed to be unique as well. When did he first learn he could do it? For some reason the answer wouldn't come to him. He brushed it aside. No matter.

He envisioned his destination and pulled power from his SOUL. In an instant he was back at the house.

"Hey everyone," he announced, strolling into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hello Sans," Toriel greeted. "I was wondering when you'd get back. The kids are in bed, Alphys and Undyne are trying to get Papyrus interested in those cartoons, and Fluffyb- er, Asgore and I were discussing... things." The two Dreemurrs shared a look.

"Ah, I see. Don't worry, I'll leave you to it." Sans grinned and left to find the others. He walked in to see Alphys and Undyne trying to answer Papyrus' onslaught of questions.

"SO WHO IS THE GUY WITH SPIKY HAIR?"

"Which one?"

"THAT ONE, WITH THE GIANT SWORD."

"You'll have t-to be more specific."

"ON THE LEFT!"

"Oh, him? That's Kensuke! He's totally badass, wait till you see him fight!"

"WOWIE! YOU WERE RIGHT, UNDYNE! ANIME IS REALLY GREAT! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"I'm fine, Frisk." Asriel whispered. "You worry too much."

Frisk lay silent for a moment. "Azzy... I'm sorry about everything that happened. But like I said, I'm here for you. Anything you need. Just tell me."

The young prince was silent for a minute. Frisk waited patiently, knowing an answer would come. "Well, I guess there is something bothering me."

"Yeah?"

"Some kids at school... Well, they were making fun of dad. And... they made fun of me too. They said... They said monsters should go back to the underground." He sniffed. "They hate us."

"Azzy..."

"Why do they hate us, Frisk?" Asriel's voice shook. "We haven't done anything wrong."

"They don't know what they're saying." Frisk replied. "A lot of humans are like that. They just hate anyone who is different. My parents... Well, they were like that. I was a lot different from them. I believe in peace and that good will triumph. They... had a different view. And they made sure I knew it." Frisk's voice turned slightly bitter. "Those aren't the people you should listen to."

"But they... It hurts."

"I know." Frisk said. "It really does."

There was a long silence. Asriel shifted in his bed. "Frisk?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you... Um, can I... Well..."

"Of course, Azzy." She sat up and smiled at him. "Come here." She opened her arms.

Asriel got up and went over to her. He buried his face in her shoulder and hugged her.

"It's okay, Asriel." Frisk said soothingly. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Frisk, I... I think I love you."

Frisk smiled in the darkness. "I love you too, Azzy."

"I'm just not sure what to do about it, Tori." Asgore sipped his tea. "She has more influence than she should."

"Well, I have plenty of friends too. They will vouch for me, despite what she says." Toriel looked at the table. "I don't think there will be a problem. At least I hope not."

"Still, I hate letting her get away with saying all of that awful stuff about you." Asgore made a fist. "I usually don't care what others may say, but not when they insult my queen."

"Oh, stop it, you."

"Well, it's true, dearest. Linda has been slandering you for a while now. It needs to stop."

"I do have an idea. The Parent-Teacher Association isn't limited to just parents. Anyone who has a relationship with students or a teacher are welcome to join. The way I see it, Linda has her followers. You know, Gloria, Helen, and the rest. We need some followers of our own. What do you think?"

Asgore rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "I see your point. We need some support. Alphys would be a good intellectual sort to have, but she is rather timid. Undyne is perhaps too aggressive. Papyrus would be a good fit. He may be naive, but he is wise in his own way and is extremely likable. And Sans... Well, he's not afraid to stand up for those around him."

Toriel nodded. "I agree. The skeleton brothers are well suited to the task."

"Well, let's wait until the morning to ask them. I'm tired." He yawned as if to prove his point. "Let's get some sleep, honey."

"Lead the way, Fluffybuns."

-End of Chapter Twenty

 **That's right, PTA Sans has come into play! Expect some... Interesting encounters in future chapters. But that's not all that's going on. There are more things coming to make the Dreemurrs lives more interesting than ever! Romance! Drama! BLOODSHED! ...well, maybe not bloodshed. But there is a lot in store! As always, thank you all so much for all the support. Leave a review with any suggestions you may have! I can't guarantee it will appear, but I'll do what I can. I hope you're enjoying it!**

 **Umbreon31**


	21. Construction and Destruction

Chapter Twenty One

Alphys peered into the gloom, searching for anything that may happen to drift by. It reminded her of all the time she had spent staring over the edge of the garbage dump, watching trash tumble into the abyss. She opened her notebook and began to write.

Nothing has appeared for a long time. I'm beginning to think that only the SOULs of boss monsters enter the void upon death. Very little has come into view, and most of what we do find is unidentifiable debris. I want to look deeper into where this may come from.

She looked back into the room. Still nothing. The humming of the machine was steady, filling the empty lab. She sighed and turned away. Why did she feel the need to show up today? Everyone else had the day off. The void had proven itself incredibly useful in retrieving Asriel's lost SOUL, but beyond that she had learned little.

Alphys decided to do one last scan for anything before heading back home. She typed the parameters into the computer and started the program. It began to beep. Something was detected. She hurried to the controls for the robotic arm they had constructed to retrieve things from the void and started it up. It glided over to the location of the discrepancy and grabbed it. She flipped a switch, turning the machine off, and went to check on what she had found.

Upon reaching the room, she opened the door and looked inside. Hanging from the arm was a scrap of black cloth. She frowned and looked closer. It seemed so normal compared to the other items fished from the void. Alphys hesitantly reached out and picked it up from the robotic arm's grasp. She turned it over.

And gasped.

On the back was a small embroidered symbol. The Delta Rune.

"Yeah! Keep going!" Undyne exclaimed. "That's it! You're almost there!"

Her client grunted as he pushed on the bars one final time. The weights rose slowly and he let them drop with a clang.

"Nice! Great workout today, Craig. See you next week?"

The man wiped sweat from his forehead and grinned. "Yeah, thanks. You're a great trainer, Undyne."

"Yeah I am!" She grinned broadly. "I'll have you in shape in no time!"

As Craig left, she headed to the water cooler. It seemed like she was always thirsty, but that made sense. It was a lot hotter on the surface than it had been in the damp caves of Waterfall. It was still a great improvement, though.

"Hey. ;)"

Undyne turned around, hearing a familiar voice. "Aaron?"

"Yeah, it's me. How have you been, Undyne? ;)" The seahorse was flexing as usual.

"I've been great. How about you? Keeping up that muscle mass?"

"Of course I am, you know how much I love being strong. ;)" He twisted from side to side, showing every inch of his body to anyone who was in the area.

Undyne barely suppressed a laugh. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. If you ever need a trainer, you know who to ask!"

"Oh, I don't think I'll need one. But thank you for offering. ;)"

Undyne watched the buff monster wander off, eager to show his muscles to whoever he could, with a grin on her face. She had always liked the guy, despite his somewhat arrogant nature. She made a mental note to challenge him to an arm wrestling match sometime. That should prove to be interesting.

The bell over the door to Grillby's rang as Sans pushed it open. Heads turned to see the new arrival, and many greetings flew his way.

"Hi, Sans!"

"Hiya, Sansy!"

"Hello, Sans!"

Sans smiled at his friends. "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked, striding up to the counter.

"We've got a new customer," Dogamy announced, pointing him out. A man sat in a booth in the corner, looking somewhat uncomfortable with the attention.

"Oh. Hi, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton." He introduced himself to the man.

"Hello. I'm-I'm Zach." The man stammered. He glanced around nervously. "I gotta say, this place has some great food."

Grillby nodded from behind the counter, which was the equivalent to a smile from the calm bartender.

"Yeah, it's awesome." Sans agreed. "Hey, don't be nervous. We're all friendly. Especially that guy." He indicated Greater Dog, who was slowly approaching Zach. "He just wants some love."

Zach's expression softened slightly. "I always did like dogs," he said, reaching out a hand. "Hey there, buddy." Greater Dog sniffed his hand tentatively. He seemed to like what he smelled, because his tail started wagging and he got closer. Zach laughed and scratched behind his ears. "You weren't kidding," he said. "I like this guy."

"Seems like he likes you too." Sans replied. "So what made you stop in here? Most humans are at least a little scared of a diner run by monsters."

Zach shrugged. "It was my son, Luke. He says that monsters are really cool. He's taking a History of Monsters class that is taught by a monster."

"Oh, Mrs. Dreemurr?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"We live together. We're kind of a weird family of sorts. There's me, my brother Papyrus, Toriel's husband Asgore, who's also the gardener at the school, Undyne the fish lady, Alphys the scientist, Asriel, Toriel and Asgore's son, and Frisk, the human who set us free from the underground."

"Wow, sounds crowded." Zach had relaxed, seeing Sans' conversational attitude. It also helped that Greater Dog was resting his head on Zach's lap, contentedly drifting off to sleep.

"Eh, it's not too bad." Sans replied. "We do pretty well."

"Luke talks about Mrs. Dreemurr a lot. He says she's very kind and the classes are interesting." Zach patted Greater Dog, which resulted in several snores. "I guess he made me want to meet some monsters. I admit, I was nervous at first. But coming here was great."

"Thank you." Grillby spoke up, a rarity.

"Well, I'm glad to have met you." Sans said. "I think you're a spec-Zach-ular guy."

Zach groaned. "Aw man, that was a terrible pun."

"Heh. The worse the pun, the better." Sans grinned. "I've got a skele-ton of them. You should come to the comedy club sometime. I perform there a lot. It's great."

"Hey, I'll check that out. But, uh, at the moment, I've gotta go. My lunch break is almost over. But I'll see you around, Sans. Great to meet you." With that, Zach got up and left, leaving Greater Dog whining sadly.

"What a great guy, huh Grillby?" Sans said. "I've come across a lot of people that aren't too happy about the return of monsters, but he gave me hope." The fire monster nodded. "I mean, we've still got a long way to go, but there's some support already."

"A noble man." Grillby said, polishing the glassware intently.

Sans looked around the bar, noticing something for the first time. "Hey, uh, where's Doggo?" He asked. "He's usually here for lunch."

Grillby simply shrugged.

"He got a job," Dogaressa said. "We're all very proud of him."

"Oh, nice." Sans replied. "I guess we're all finding our places in society in some way or another."

Sans' words were unfortunately not entirely true. Toriel had been the first to find a job, but was currently in danger of losing it.

"We've received complaints from several parents about your teaching here." Principal Davis stated. "Now, I for one see nothing wrong being done. You are a great teacher and it seems most of the kids love you. To be honest, I'm fairly certain that these parents are simply discriminating against monsters. However, if we receive enough complaints, we are legally required to examine your place as a teacher."

"I understand." Toriel said stiffly.

"Mrs. Dreemurr, I am sorry. Truly I am. But this is beyond my control." Mr. Davis shrugged. "I will fight by your side as much as I can, but beyond that, there's nothing I can do."

Toriel nodded. "I appreciate that, Mr. Davis."

"Well, that's all I have to say. If there's anything I can do for you..."

"No, I shall be fine." Toriel stood up. "I'll be seeing you."

Toriel walked back to her classroom, outwardly calm but upset underneath. She wondered if she had in fact done something wrong, had given parents a reason to complain. But that was unlikely. She knew what was going on.

Linda.

Linda had taken one look at the monsters approaching under a white flag and decided that they were the scourge of the earth. As far as she was concerned, going back to the underground was too good for them. She would prefer they go to the underworld. Unfortunately, she had several friends who felt the same way. Her influence had spread amongst the suburban mothers of Ebbotville until she had a large number of followers all despising the monsters.

Just thinking of the woman made Toriel burn with anger as hot as her fire magic. Making the queen angry was difficult, but Linda had a special talent for it. From passive-aggressive suggestions that monsters couldn't be trusted to the way she told her followers what to think, Linda was a pro when it came to upsetting Toriel. They had only met twice at PTA meetings, but they had made it clear immediately that neither cared for the other. Now Linda had made it her goal to get rid of Toriel, and made no pretense of hiding it.

What she did hide was how desperate she was to do it.

-End of Chapter Twenty One


	22. Feelings

Chapter Twenty Two

Asriel opened his eyes. It was Saturday. He smiled to himself and sat up. The whole day was in front of him. He glanced over at Frisk. She was still asleep, breathing gently. His heart beat a little faster, somewhat surprising him.

Why did feel so weird around Frisk? Despite what he had said two nights ago, he still couldn't fully understand his feelings. Frisk was just so kind and loving towards everyone; the joy it brought her to help others was infectious. Not only that, but Frisk could understand him.

That was perhaps the strangest thing. Frisk seemed to understand more about Asriel than he did about himself. She could tell how he felt before he even realized he felt that way. He toyed with the idea of asking her about his feelings toward her, but decided against it. Something about that scared him. He didn't know whether it was asking her or what he'd find out. He sighed and tried to push the thoughts from his mind. It didn't work.

He left the room quietly and headed toward the kitchen. Maybe some food would help him think straight.

"Yeah, Tori, course I'll help." Sans' voice drifted out of the kitchen. "I goat your back."

Asriel entered the kitchen as Toriel laughed at Sans' pun. "Howdy," he greeted sleepily. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing important." Toriel replied, pulling him into a hug. "Just some stuff at work."

Sans leaned back in his chair. "You and Frisk got any plans for today?" He asked.

Asriel shook his head, ears flopping. "No, not really. She's still asleep."

Sans nodded and closed his eyes. "Well, you know where to find me if ya want anything." Within seconds his breathing slowed and became steady.

"Remarkable." Toriel said, watching the skeleton sleep. "How on earth does he do that?"

Papyrus turned the corner, on the home stretch. His T-shirt blew in the wind, the phrase "JOGBOY" rippling across his ribs. He had decided to go on an early morning jog. It was a good way to get his bones shaking, and he enjoyed being out where he could see everything going on in the world around him. He couldn't understand why Sans had elected to stay inside on such a fine morning. Then again, there was a lot about his brother that he didn't understand.

The lanky skeleton reached the house and came to a stop. He fished around in his pocket for the key to the front door. As he was unlocking the door, he heard a slight cough behind him. Turning, he found himself skull-to-face with a smiling woman.

"HELLO, HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed happily. "HOW ARE YOU THIS FINE MORNING?"

The woman was unfazed by Papyrus' outburst. "Hello," she said. "Is this the Dreemurr residence?"

"WHY, YES IT IS!"

"Oh. I see." The woman looked up at the house, taking in all the details.

"MY NAME IS PAPYRUS! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm Linda. Tell me, do you work at the school? I think I've seen you there."

"YES, I DO! I AM A LUNCH SKELETON!"

"And you ensure that the children get proper nutrition?" The woman's smile was starting to make Papyrus uneasy.

"OF COURSE! I SERVE THE BEST KINDS OF PASTA AVAILABLE!"

"Okay then, I'll be on my way." She turned to leave abruptly. "Thank you for your time."

Papyrus waved enthusiastically, his sense of distrust forgotten. "GOODBYE!"

Frisk shuffled into the kitchen, hair tousled and eyes half closed. "G'mornin'." she mumbled. Toriel looked up from the eggs she was cooking, slightly concerned.

"Goodness, Frisk, are you okay? You look like you are going to fall asleep on your feet." She poked at the eggs with a spatula.

"'M fine," she said, "jus' tired."

"Did you sleep poorly?" Toriel asked.

"Yeah, had weird dreams." Frisk replied. "Was this guy in a black cloak, an' he had weird eyes that weren't the same. Wasn't really scary, but strange."

"Hmm." Toriel was silent for a minute. "Well, some breakfast will perk you up."

Frisk took a seat next to Sans, who was still snoozing. She poked at him, giggling slightly. "What a lazybones," she said. "Where's Asriel?"

"He's in the living room, talking to Papyrus."

Frisk nodded. "Has he eaten yet?"

"No, he's been waiting for you."

Frisk felt something odd, a small jump in her chest. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but she knew what it was. Love. Frisk had felt a lot of love towards many people. But this felt different somehow. There was more to it than the compassion she felt for all of her friends. Some sort of added warmth.

"Frisk?" Toriel asked.

She shook her head, realizing she had been lost in thought. "Huh?"

"I just asked you how many eggs you wanted." Toriel held up the pan to emphasize her point.

"Oh. Umm, not too much, I guess."

Toriel nodded and put some eggs on the plate. "Frisk, I can tell how you feel."

Frisk was startled. "What?"

"About Asriel. Don't forget, I was your age once. That was many, many years ago, but I can still remember it." She sighed. "Asgore was always tending the garden in the castle. He didn't need to, of course, there were gardeners who were paid for it. But he wouldn't have it any other way. He was always out there, working alongside them, caring for each and every flower. The king never really understood why his son did that, I think. He was a good man, but very set in his ways. Anyway, one day, I saw him out there working. He was watering the flowers with a kind smile on his face. It was as if he could feel how happy the plants were to be getting water. I was impressed. He cared so much for the flowers. It was this compassion that led me to talk to him. He was very polite, not to mention handsome, even at that young age. I fell head over heels for him."

"How old were you?" Frisk asked.

"Oh, I'd say we were around 11 or 12."

"That's pretty young to get married."

Toriel laughed. "We didn't get married then! We just became friends. I believe Gerson told you about the way Boss monsters don't age? Well, that only comes into effect once we reach a certain age, which varies slightly from monster to monster. Otherwise we would stay babies forever! That age tends to be around twenty or so, and that is when Asgore and I got married."

"How long ago was that?"

"Oh, ages. This was before the war between humans and monsters. But anyway, I've become distracted. What I was saying is this. I know how it feels to be smitten with someone. And that's how you feel towards Asriel, whether you realize it or not. Now, I will say it is kind of, well, unconventional seeing as you are adoptive siblings. But our entire family is unconventional. I'll leave the decisions up to you, Frisk. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me for advice."

Frisk looked at Toriel's smiling face. It was full of love for her children, both of them. "Okay mom. I will."

End of Chapter Twenty Two


	23. The Park

Chapter Twenty Three

"So do you think she... you know... likes me in that way?"

Papyrus pondered the question. "I HAVE NO IDEA!" He finally said cheerily. "BUT FEAR NOT, ASRIEL, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HELP YOU!"

"Thanks, but I think I should handle this on my own. That just seems like the right way to do things."

Toriel's voice came out of the kitchen. "Asriel, Frisk is awake! Time to eat!"

"Well, here goes nothing." Asriel looked at Papyrus for support. The skeleton gave him a wink and returned to his junior jumble.

Frisk sat quietly at the table, her eyes averted. "Good morning, Azzy." She said.

"Good morning Frisk." Asriel replied. He sat down next to her, looking down at the table.

"Here are the eggs!" Toriel exclaimed happily, serving a plate to both children.

They thanked her and started to eat. Asriel glanced up at Frisk right as she looked up at him. Their eyes connected and locked into place. They stared at each other for a moment before looking away shyly. Toriel watched this all with a bemused expression. She remembered Asgore's reaction to her approach, his awkward speech and fumbling demeanor whenever she talked to him.

"So..." Frisk ventured. "Anything you want to do today?"

Asriel simply shrugged. "I thought you may have an idea."

"Well," Frisk said, "I can think of something."

Papyrus dragged Sans over to the Nice Cream Guy's stand. They got in line, which stretched for a considerable distance. Even with all the times Frisk had seen the blue bunny smile, she had never seen him look quite as happy as he was now.

She flopped backwards into the grass, laying down next to Asriel. They were on a hill overlooking the park, watching everyone go about their business. Alphys and Undyne were playing catch with a Frisbee, Papyrus and Sans had almost made it to the front of the line, and Asgore and Toriel were sitting in the shade of a tree together.

Asriel looked up at the sky. "I'll never get tired of seeing this." He said. "Even the first time I came to the surface with... You know, Chara... It amazed me. The beauty that stretched on for as far as I could see." He turned his head, looking at Frisk lying next to him. Somehow he was even more entranced.

Frisk pointed at the sky. "See that cloud?" She asked. "Looks kinda like Pyrope, huh?"

Asriel cocked his head to the side. "Yeah, I see what you mean. You see that one? It reminds me of a Vegetoid."

"Yeah, it really does." They lapsed into silence. It lasted only a few minutes before Frisk broke it.

"Hey Azzy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about what you want to do when you're older?"

Asriel was silent for a minute. "I don't know. I guess just find someone who I really like and get married." He turned his head and looked at Frisk. "What about you?"

Her brown eyes met his. "I guess I want to do the same thing," she said quietly.

They stared at each other. Asriel's mind was racing, but it felt as if it had turned into a puddle of jello. "Do you ever wonder if... Well, maybe you already know that person. The one you really like."

"No, I never wonder that."

"Oh." Asriel felt his heart sink. That was it, then. Frisk didn't feel the same.

"I never wonder because I know the answer." Frisk continued. "And it's yes."

Asriel's pulse quickened. He felt something in his hand. Looking down, he was surprised to see that it was Frisk's hand clasping his. He squeezed back and felt joy.

They stared at the sky together for a long time.

"Don't you think you're taking this way too far?"

"Helen, for god's sake, try to show a little backbone!" Linda spat. She was scribbling fiercely in a notebook. "I swear, it's like you don't want to get rid of the monsters. Be more like Gloria. Now there's dedication." She nodded toward the woman, who was typing on a laptop. "Have you found anything?"

"Not much. This supposed war must have happened centuries ago, if it even happened at all. And beyond that, the monsters haven't really made much of an online presence. Well, aside from one, who seems desperate for attention if you ask me." She snorted. "Get a load of his username. CoolSkeleton95. That's just sad."

"Well, I met one earlier. Might have been the same, seeing as he was a skeleton and quite... obnoxious. He's living with that stupid teacher."

"Ooh, that could be some dirt. She's married, right?"

"Nah, I don't think anything will come of that. A bunch of them live there. Not exactly scandalous when you've got an entire community of the freaks living under one roof." Linda reached for a lemon bar in the center of the table. "Although we may be able to spin it to our advantage."

"I have an idea," Helen spoke up, desperate to redeem herself. "You're right, Linda, I've been too timid. But here's the plan. If we can't find something to tarnish the reputation of monsters, we'll have to make something. It can't be that hard to set up some simple ways to get monsters in trouble. We don't need to do anything huge, either. A couple small things here and there, and we'll get rid of them."

Linda thought for a moment. "Y'know, Helen, you've got an excellent point. We just need to sow the seeds of doubt. That combined with the supporters we already have may be enough. Now, let's figure this out." The devious mom turned to a new page in her notebook and began to write.

-End of Chapter Twenty Three


	24. An Unexpected Visitor

Chapter Twenty Four

A knock came on the door, startling everyone. They had just sat down for dinner when the interruption came.

"I'LL GET IT!" Papyrus exclaimed. The skeleton got up and headed for the door. He threw it open proudly. "HELLO, HOW MAY I-" There was a pause, followed by what could only be described as shrieking.

Sans instantly sat up and teleported to the front hall, blue energy blazing from his left eye. He raised his hand, summoning magic from his SOUL, only to lower it again, laughing.

Standing in the doorway was a surprised Mettaton, caught off guard by Papyrus' reaction. Papyrus was on his knees, eye sockets wide and squealing with excitement.

"Heya," Sans greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, darling," Mettaton replied smoothly, regaining his composure. "I was wondering if Alphys was home. I need to speak with her."

"Well, we were just about to have dinner, so-"

"Perfect! I'd be glad to join you!" The robot strolled inside, pausing to help Papyrus to his feet, who looked like he would pass out from excitement. "Papyrus, isn't it?" Mettaton asked.

Papyrus nodded, too amazed for words.

"Fabulous to be meeting you." The star winked, sending Papyrus into a state of near shock. Sans grinned and helped his brother back into the dining room.

"Hello, my wonderful friends!" Mettaton exclaimed, raising his arms dramatically as he burst into the room. "How have you all been?"

Alphys smiled and got up to greet her friend. "D-don't you think you could wait until a b-better time?" She asked, a wry grin on her face.

"Darling, there is no time like the present for visiting friends!" Mettaton's face fell for a second. "I forgot that for a while... But now I'm not going to forget again!" He bowed apologetically towards Toriel. "Although I do apologize for interrupting dinner."

"Oh, not at all!" Toriel exclaimed. "Please, have a seat! We have plenty of food."

"Thank you, your majesty," Mettaton said as he pulled out a chair next to Frisk. "How has my co-star been?" He asked.

Frisk giggled. "I've been doing pretty well." She said.

"I wanted to thank you for showing me how blinded I was with fame." Mettaton told her. "I had abandoned my poor cousin to pursue my dreams. Also, I was happy to hear how nice you were to Blooky. They really deserve it." Mettaton turned to Asriel. "And you must be the lost prince! It's a real honor to meet you!"

Asriel shifted awkwardly. "Yeah, you too." He mumbled shyly. "I like your show."

Mettaton laughed. "Well of course you do, darling! Everyone does!"

As dinner progressed, Mettaton told everyone of his entrance into the human world of entertainment. He was hosting a talk show, although he didn't always have a guest. Of course, that was no problem, as he could simply talk about himself. Napstablook and Shyren had learned how to handle things behind the scenes, and were always anxious to help out. The trio was trying to branch out into different forms of entertainment as well, especially music. Although still as narcissistic as ever, Mettaton was polite and glad to be sharing his story with closer friends rather than an audience.

"So what about you guys, hmm? What has been happening with the Dreemurr family?" Mettaton finally asked.

"Well, we've been doing great." Frisk said. "I mean, you heard about Asriel returning, of course."

"Right, right. But what else has happened?"

Sans glanced at Frisk, wondering if she'd tell the robot about some of the darker events that had taken place. They certainly weren't simply things to discuss casually, but they were definitely important events. He decided to leave it up to the kid to mention.

"Well," Frisk hesitated. "We woke a demon,"

Welp, Sans thought. That answers that. No need for subtlety, either.

"My word!" Mettaton gasped. "How on earth did that happen?"

"She was kind of living inside me. And she managed to take over Asriel's body and kill me. But I refused to die. Then Azzy and I fought back, and we won."

Sans grinned, looking at Mettaton's surprised face. Sometimes he forgot how young Frisk really was. The nonchalant way she described their struggle against Chara was evidence of this.

"You must be pulling my leg," Mettaton said. "Which, I must say, I can't blame you for. Everyone wants a piece of these."

"No, th-that happened," Alphys said. "It was t-terrifying."

"Really? Wow." Mettaton looked at the children with respect. "I'm impressed. Now I don't feel so bad about losing to you, Frisk."

Frisk shrugged noncommittally. "You were tough, I'll say that." She neglected to mention the several deaths Mettaton had caused. It didn't really matter at this point.

"Other than that, things have been pretty smooth," Toriel said. "Besides that incident, we haven't had too much trouble. Except..." She paused. "Well, never mind. I won't trouble you."

"Please, your majesty, tell me what's bothering you. I'll do my best to fix it." Mettaton offered graciously. "After all, I did crash your dinner unannounced."

Toriel managed a smile. "You're always welcome, Mettaton. But really, I needn't bother you with-"

"Oh, I insist." The robot was adamant.

"Well," Toriel began. "I've been having trouble at work. There are members of the PTA that hold a grudge against me for reasons unknown."

"Well, sign me up," the robot exclaimed. "With a celebrity on your side, you can't lose!"

"Oh, Mettaton, really, that won't be necessary."

"Nonsense!" He struck a pose. "I will defend your job and your honor!"

Sans turned to his brother. "Well, looks like we got another member on our team. Um... Papyrus?"

The tall skeleton's eyes were still wide open, amazed that a star was eating dinner with him. Sans waved a hand in front of his face. Papyrus blinked and looked at Sans.

"IT... IT'S METTATON!" The skeleton managed.

"Yep, way ahead of you, bro." Sans grinned. "You're gonna see a lot more of him in the upcoming days."

Papyrus made another squealing noise and everyone laughed.

-End of Chapter Twenty Four

 **~NOTE~**

 **There will be no Papyton shipping in this. Just either easing your fears or letting you know now, depending on where you stand on the ship. Pap is simply starstruck. So chill. That is all. Goodbye for now.**

 **Umbreon31**


	25. Judgement

Chapter Twenty Five

Papyrus strolled down the street, humming cheerfully to himself. Toriel had sent him on an important mission as a Royal Gaurdsman. He was to make his way across town, locate the store, and purchase a loaf of bread. It was a vital task, one that ensured the possibility of French Toast in the mornings. He was glad Toriel had trusted him to complete such an important job.

"Mom, look at that skeleton!" He heard a boy say.

"Sam, don't stare. It's not polite." The boy's mother reprimanded him.

"But he's so weird! Look at those clothes!"

"Samuel! That's not a nice thing to say, even about a monster."

Papyrus kept walking. What did the boy mean, weird? He wasn't weird, he was cool! His shirt even said so. Somehow, his mission felt a little less important than before.

Undyne strained against the weight of the barbells she was lifting. Even for her, 450 pounds was a lot. She gave a final push and let the barbell rest on the hooks. 20 reps. Not bad.

She was waiting for her next client, a new one. There were a lot of people who wanted to get stronger, and many thought that Undyne would be a great trainer. After all, she was by far the strongest trainer at the gym and was always encouraging.

"Hey Undyne! Your new client is here!" The man behind the front desk called to her.

"Thanks, Ricky, I'll be there in a second." She responded, wiping down the weights. Undyne headed to the front and greeted the man. "Hi, I'm Undyne. How are you?" She asked, holding out her hand.

The man looked her up and down with distaste. "Oh." He said flatly. "I didn't realize you were one of... them." He turned to Ricky. "I'm sorry, but is it possible I get a different trainer? I don't think this one will work out."

Undyne made a fist, longing to form a spear and hold it to the guy's throat. Who the hell did he think he was? "Umm, I can still hear you, you know." She pointed out. The man ignored her.

"What do you mean, not at this short notice? I already paid!" He snapped.

Ricky gestured helplessly. "Sorry, man, but there's nothing I can do. It's Undyne or nothing."

"Well, it will have to be nothing, then." The man said coldly, turning and stalking out the door.

Ricky watched him go. "Wow." He said. "Sorry about that."

"What the hell?" Undyne exploded. "'One of them'? I'd like to take a spear and shove it right up his-"

"Hey, chill, Undyne." Ricky said. "He's gone, don't worry about it.

The warrior fumed. This was the side of humanity she had heard about growing up. The hatred and contempt. Frisk had given her hope that there were good humans, but she was beginning to wonder if they were a minority.

Asgore hummed to himself as he dug a new row for buttercups. He recalled doing the same thing before meeting Toriel all those centuries ago. The flowerbed in front of their house was beginning to get crowded. Asgore had managed to plant flowers just far enough apart that they didn't get in each other's way, but still remained close enough for a nice, full look.

"Having fun?"

He turned around and smiled. Toriel was watching him work, a soft smile on her face. She came closer and knelt in the dirt with him. "Do you need any help?" She asked.

He nodded. "I could use some," he said. "Can you get the new flowers from the garage? Thanks, dear."

Toriel walked off to get the flowers. Asgore looked at the garden with pride. He enjoyed nurturing the plants, bringing them life. It sometimes felt like it could make up for the terrible things he had done. He knew it couldn't. But it helped.

"Here you go, Fluffybuns." Toriel said, handing him the plants.

"Thank you, dearest." He replied, carefully removing them from their plastic compartments. "Have you seen the children today?" He asked.

She shrugged. "They went for a walk together. I know they can take care of themselves very well."

Asgore nodded. "They really are something, aren't they."

Toriel giggled. "They sure are. It's the sweetest thing."

"What do you mean sweet? I was talking about their ability to handle themselves." Asgore was puzzled.

Toriel glanced at him sideways, a slight smirk on her face. "What, haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Asriel and Frisk." She laughed. "You're clueless. They obviously like each other."

"They do?" Asgore was amazed. "How did I not notice?"

Toriel gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek. "You didn't know what you felt about me, remember?" She laughed. "You were so confused. And I think Asriel takes after you in that way. He knows he likes Frisk, but he doesn't understand all the feelings going through him."

"Oh. Should I... talk to him or something?" He asked.

Toriel shrugged. "Just do whatever you think is best. I trust your judgement, Asgore. Even after what happened before. You've got a good head for that sort of thing." She placed a hand on his arm. "You are the king, after all."

-End of Chapter Twenty Five

 **This chapter has a few references to A Meeting in the Garden, a parallel story of sorts to this one. It's a short fic I wrote detailing the first meeting between Asgore and Toriel. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of the ship! Anyway, that's all I got. I hope you're enjoying everything!**

 **Umbreon31**


	26. Attacked

Chapter Twenty Six

Undyne kicked at a pebble, sending it skittering down the sidewalk. She hated going into the city. The air felt thick and grimy. It had to be done, though. Alphys was counting on her.

She stopped. Something was wrong. Her instincts as a warrior told her this. She turned around. The street was nearly empty, save for a few pedestrians wandering about. Undyne caught a glimpse of someone ducking into an alley behind her. Her hunch was correct. She was being followed.

She turned back on her path and continued walking. She'd let them think they'd gone undetected. That way she had the advantage. Adopting a casual demeanor, she strolled towards her destination.

She pushed open the door, causing the bell overhead to ring. The flabby, good-natured proprietor looked up from the comic he was reading.

"Undyne!" He greeted. "It's been a while!"

"Hey, Jackson," she grinned. "I heard you got the newest issues of the Mew Mew Kissy Cutie manga in stock."

"Sure do! I set aside copies for you and your girl." He winked. "How is Alphys, by the way?"

"She's doing fine," Undyne said, picking up a comic book and flipping through it. "Been pretty busy lately. But that's good." She set the book back down. "She likes her work."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Jackson said, digging through a box to find the requested issues. "I ordered a replica of the Crisis Blade the other day. Thought you might want to see it sometime after it arrives."

"Heck yeah!" Undyne exclaimed. "Is it life size?"

"You know it."

Undyne smiled broadly. Jackson was an awesome guy. It almost made her forget about the strange stalker she had. But not quite.

"Jackson?"

"Yeah?" He pulled a few comics from the box. "Here we are."

"You got a back entrance or something? I think I'm being followed."

He shrugged apologetically. "Nope, only the front door. But who's following you?"

"I have no idea." She dug in her wallet for the money. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." She bought the comics, thanked Jackson, and left.

Undyne stepped back out onto the street. Looking left and right, she saw a man poke his head around a corner and head towards her. Luckily, he had passed the shop so she could head back the way she came. She started down the street, forming a plan. She'd duck into an alley and wait for him to get close, hopefully passing her. If not, well, she could fight it out.

Undyne approached a space between two buildings and slipped between. She crouched by the wall and waited. Sure enough, the figure she had seen passed her. But something was wrong. The person she had seen before had been much taller than this man. That meant-

A hand grabbed her arm. Big mistake. She spun around and kicked, driving her boot into her attacker's gut. The man exhaled sharply and fell back. He looked up with murder in his eyes and pulled out a long knife with a serrated blade. Undyne crouched slightly, lowering her center of gravity. If it was a fight he wanted, a fight he would get.

The man dove forward and slashed recklessly. Undyne almost laughed. It was hardly a well planned move, simply an elephant's charge. She sidestepped nimbly and elbowed the man on the back of the head, causing him to lose his balance. As he fell to the ground, Undyne formed a spear. She pointed it at the man, who groaned and raised his hands in surrender.

Across the street, a camera clicked.

"H-hey Undyne! Did you get th-the new issues?" Alphys asked eagerly.

Undyne grinned and held up the bag. "Here ya go. Just for you. Well, not really. Just let me read them when you're done."

"Thanks so much! I'm so glad that they w-went with a small reboot and reinstated Mew Mew from the f-first movie to create the manga because it r-really is the only way to get a good insight into her head since the character arc was s-so badly ruined in the second..."

Undyne nodded, only half listening. She had taken the mugger's cell phone and called the police on it, telling them what had happened but leaving before they arrived. She hoped it had been the right thing. Still, something seemed off about it. Why had he followed her when there were so many easier targets? Undyne was clearly not someone to be messed with.

"...and I was so anxious t-to see where this new plot line would go..."

The guy was probably just an idiot. That was all. Nothing to it.

So why did it bother her so much?

-End of Chapter Twenty Six

 **Yeah, I know, this one is kind of short. Sue me. I just wanted to get this out there. So anyway, things are heating up. Are you ready for some more intense stuff? Because it's coming. Romance is in the air, a threat lurks on the horizon, and there are stirrings in an otherworldly realm...**

 **Wow. That sounds so melodramatic. Anyway, hope you're enjoying everything that's going on!**

 **Umbreon31**


	27. Encounter

Chapter Twenty Seven

"Well, we got it." Gloria held up the flash drive proudly. "God, it was expensive, though. That ruffian charged a lot for the damage he took."

"But you got the picture? The fish threatening a poor innocent civilian?" Linda drummed her fingers on the table impatiently.

"Of course. Holding a spear to his throat and everything." She shook her head. "Honestly, I'm wondering if we had to stage anything at all. She's vicious."

"Well, at least we got what we needed." Helen stated. "That's one monster we have evidence against. Now what's next?"

Grillby looked up as the bell over the door rang. Zach stepped inside, this time with a young boy.

"Hello, Grillby." Zach said with a grin. "This is my son, Luke." Grillby nodded. "He really wanted to come after I told him about this place."

"Hi!" Luke greeted happily. His gaze shifted to the dogs and his eyes widened. "Woah! Frisk wasn't kidding!" He rushed over and started petting Lesser Dog. The dog wagged its tail happily as its neck extended. "These guys are big! Uhh..." He noticed Lesser Dog's strange growth. "What's he doing?"

"Yeah, it happens." Sans was simply gone one moment and there the next. "It's a _long_ story." He said with a wink.

"Who are you?" Luke asked, surprised.

"I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I take it you're Luke?" He nodded at Zach. "Good to see you."

"Hey Sans! Um, how did you get in here?" Zach asked.

"Shortcut." Sans replied. "Pretty fast one, too."

Zach cast him a sideways look. "Huh. Well, Luke kept pestering me to bring him here. He wanted to try monster food." He looked at his son, who was petting Lesser Dog and laughing as his head extended further and further. "Y'know, I'm not sure if that's hilarious or weird. A bit of both, I guess."

"Fits most of us." Sans grinned.

"Well, can't argue with that. I saw your show the other night. I loved it! You're a great comic, Sans."

"Hey, thanks. I appreciate it." The skeleton looked pleased. "Let me buy you something."

"Oh, no, really. I couldn't do that."

"Really, I insist." Sans grinned. "I owe it to ya."

"Well... If you put it that way, fine. But I'll have to buy you something sometime." Zach sat next to Sans. "Hey Luke, what do you want?" He called.

Luke looked up from the pile of dogs that had formed around him, all clamoring for attention. "A burger!" He cried happily.

"Alright," Zach responded, looking at the menu. "I think I'll have the fries."

"Hey, good choice." Sans said. Grillby went to get the requested food. "I'll just have a drink. Toriel's cooking dinner tonight and I love her food."

The bell over the door rang and a woman poked her head in tentatively. Looking at the Dogi kissing passionately, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Her gaze shifted to Doggo, who was smoking. A disgusting habit, she thought. And those clothes! Ugh!

"Heya," Sans greeted the new arrival as Grillby returned with the food. Luke gave the dogs one last pat before joining them at the bar. "Nice to meetcha. I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton." He held out his hand for the woman to shake.

She looked as if Sans had offered her a dead fish.

"No? Well, that's ok then." He turned back to Grillby, who passed him a bottle of ketchup. Zach raised his eyes at this but said nothing.

Grillby looked at the woman, who had pulled out a notepad. She clicked a pen and looked at the bartender with a clearly false smile.

"Hi, I'm Helen. I was just wondering a few things about your establishment." She stated. Grillby raised an eyebrow. "First of all, isn't this a fire hazard? I mean, this building is made of wood, and you are made of fire. What's stopping it from burning to the ground?"

"I have control over my flames."

"Right, right." Helen scribbled something in her notepad. "Second, how can you allow that thing," she indicated Doggo, "to smoke in here? Isn't that bad?"

"Those are dog treats. There are no substances that would change a body's status." Grillby stated.

"Hmm." Helen pursed her lips and scribbled something else.

Sans had had enough. "Hey lady, if you don't mind, why are you asking these questions?"

"Oh, I'm simply a concerned citizen." Helen smiled insincerely again.

"Well, I'm concerned too." Sans glared at her. "I'm concerned about your strange interest in Grillby's diner. I'm concerned about the way you referred to Doggo as 'that thing.' And I'm concerned about my friends' jobs." His pupils disappeared. It was time to get serious. "I've heard about you, Helen. You, Gloria and Linda are trying to get rid of monsters. And I won't stand for that."

Linda looked to the left and stammered. "Wh-what? I-I'm not trying to get r-rid of monsters. I-I'm just worried about m-my community."

Sans snorted. "Your community. Your precious monster-free life, you mean. What, do we scare you? Are the stories you heard as a kid haunting you? Worried we'll hide under your bed and attack you in the night? We won't. We're above that. But you know what we will do? We will fight for acceptance. So you know what? Go to Hell-en."

Helen looked livid. She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. In the end she turned on her heel and stormed out the door.

Zach looked at Sans with his eyes wide. "Wow. That was... Intense."

Sans simply shrugged. "Sorry." He said apologetically. "I tend to be a bit protective of my friends."

"Nothing to be sorry about, Sans." Zach looked at him with respect. "You're fighting a battle. And I'm going to fight by your side."

Frisk ran ahead, laughing as Asriel raced to catch up. They climbed the hill, scampering up the side with seemingly limitless energy. Toriel smiled as she watched them. The two had been getting along so well. It reminded her of when Chara had been living with them, save for one thing. Asriel's joy was being reciprocated.

Looking back, she remembered the way Chara would seemingly go through the motions at times. Her willingness to play with Asriel had seemed like a duty rather than something that she truly enjoyed. It felt as if her happiness had been simply plastered onto the front of whatever lied underneath. At the time, she simply thought Chara had trouble expressing her emotions. In retrospect, she saw that the emotions had always been fake.

This was not the case with Frisk. The child was so filled with a cheerful spirit that it was always spilling over, filling those around her with joy too.

The two reached the top of the hill and lay down on the grass. Rolling over, Frisk tumbled down the hill, laughing as the world spun. Asriel followed suit, his long ears flopping as he rolled. Toriel was glad to see them having such a good time.

"Hey, Tori."

She jumped a little and looked to her left. Sans was standing there casually, hands in his pockets as usual.

"Oh, hello Sans." She greeted him. "How was your day?"

Sans watched as Asriel accidentally rolled into Frisk, sending them both sprawling. "Well, I've got good and bad news." He said. "On one hand, I've got a new friend that will help us out any way he can with fitting in to society. He's the father of one of your students, Luke."

"Oh, Luke! He is such a sweet boy." Toriel exclaimed.

"Yeah, I met him today. He's a good kid. Anyway, I met his father Zach and we became friends. He says he wants to help."

"Sans, that's wonderful! I'm so glad you found someone to help us!"

"Well, that's the good news. The bad news is that I had a run-in with Helen. You know, the one you told me about. Anyway, she's planning something. I don't know what, but there's something going on."

"Sans, suburban mothers are always planning something. But I assume you mean something with Ill intent towards monsters?"

"Yeah. She was grilling Grillby about a bunch of things regarding his restaurant. You know, loaded questions and stuff. I... told her off." Sans shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I told her to go to Hell, among other things."

"Sans! That wasn't very wise. She will make you a target."

"She called Doggo 'that thing!' Am I supposed to just let that go?"

Toriel smiled. "You have an admirable weakness, Sans. You care a lot about your friends and want to defend them." Her face turned serious. "Even if it means putting yourself in bad situations."

"Yeah, well, Undyne's the same way." Sans muttered. "In fact, she died protecting another monster in the... the bad timeline."

"Yes, and Undyne is a true hero. As are you, Sans."

He looked down. "Hero? Nah, I'm just a lazy guy who cares about others. You'd do the same thing if you were in my position."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Sans." She shrugged. "I tend to be overly nice sometimes. I don't get aggressive, even when I probably should."

They stood there together in silence for a while, watching Asriel and Frisk race back up the hill.

-End of Chapter Twenty Seven


	28. The Void's Secrets

Chapter Twenty Eight

Alphys squinted into the microscope. Everything looked relatively normal. As far as she could tell, the scrap from the void was just ordinary fabric. But where had it come from? She decided to run a scan for similar items.

"H-hey Mark?" She asked. "I-I'm gonna run a quick scan. I'm trying to s-see if I can find any more scraps that are recognizable."

Mark Stewart nodded. He returned to the odd glowing chunk they had salvaged the other day and examined the scratched surface.

Alphys set the parameters and started a scan. After a few minutes, there was a hit. They had found more fabric.

"Carol?" Alphys asked. An aide looked up expectantly. "Can you help me retrieve th-this?"

"Of course, Dr. Alphys," She responded.

The pair worked together and managed to get ahold of the fabric. Alphys shut down the machine accessing the void and they entered the room. Plucking the fabric from the robot's claws, Alphys gave it a quick inspection. There was something embroidered on this as well, but it made no sense. A series of symbols adorned the fabric, making a row across a thin portion. A hand holding up two fingers, what looked like a raindrop, a snowflake, and a hand pointing to the left. It looked like there were more symbols on either side of what was there, but they were torn halfway through. Something about the symbols seemed oddly familiar to Alphys, but she couldn't quite place it. She headed back into the room with the machine and reactivated it, allowing them to access the void once more.

"Hey Alphys?" Mark asked. "You might want to take a look at this."

Alphys hurried over to Mark. "Y-yeah?"

He pointed at one of the chunks they had retrieved. "There's something engraved on that one."

Alphys picked it up. More symbols were etched into the side. A hand pointing downward, a hand pointing right, two frowning faces, and a square flag.

Carol looked over Alphys' shoulder and frowned. "That looks familiar," she said. "Is it that weird font on computers? Ding-A-Lings or something?"

Mark snapped his fingers. "WingDings! That's it! But... Why is it engraved on a rock?"

"Well, let's g-get someone to translate it. That's the first st-step." Alphys looked at the symbols, wracking her brain. They meant something to her, something important from her past, but what?

"You make funny noises when you sleep." Frisk announced out of the blue.

Asriel looked up. "What?"

She shrugged. "You do. It's really adorable."

Asriel felt his face turn red under his fur. "Umm. Okay?"

Frisk laughed. She enjoyed watching Asriel when she complimented him, if you could call that a compliment. His shy, modest nature made for quite a show. She returned to the drawing she was working on. In it, Sans was sleeping while Papyrus carried him.

Asriel looked over and giggled. "That looks great." He said. "Here, you wanna see mine?" He held up his picture. It was a drawing of Undyne and Alphys sitting on the couch together. Undyne was snoring away and Alphys was watching TV. Frisk laughed.

"That's pretty good, Azzy." She said. "Who do you think I should draw next?"

The prince shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "Maybe mom and dad?"

"Good idea." Frisk took a fresh sheet of paper and started to sketch the lines. "I'm gonna make them kiss." She giggled.

Asriel took a new sheet as well and began to draw. "Hey Frisk?" He asked.

"Mmhmm?"

"Are you worried about mom's job? She says it will be fine, but I'm just not sure." Asriel said sadly.

"I'm sure it will be fine. She's a great teacher, they have no reason to fire her." Frisk smiled at him. "Besides, Sans, Papyrus, and Mettaton are all helping her.

"...yeah, I guess..." Asriel wasn't convinced. "I just... I thought that humans could accept us. Even after what happened before with... with Chara, I thought we could make it work out. After all, you were here to help this time."

"There are a lot of humans that accept you guys." Frisk reminded him.

"Yeah, but... Not too many." He sighed. "Maybe I'm just being too negative."

Frisk was silent. Asriel did have a point. There were a lot of people who would cross the street to avoid monsters. They had done everything to demonstrate that they only wanted to live in peace, but there were many humans that simply didn't care. To them, monsters were different and somehow that made them wrong.

Asgore trimmed the hedge carefully, making sure the top was smooth but rounded. If it was flat, it would look unnatural, but leaving it too rough would look unruly. Gardening was a delicate process, and that appealed to him.

He set the hedge trimmers down and wiped his brow. Sometimes his thick fur was too hot. Today was a particularly warm day and he had been working hard.

His thoughts were on Asriel. The boy was growing up fast, and it was his responsibility to prepare him for life. But what was his life even going to be like? He may be a prince, but the monarchy of monsters was no longer truly in place. Where would Asriel's place in the world be? What should he teach him? Asgore sighed. It was hard to think about. He figured he'd ask Toriel. She always knew the answers.

At least, he hoped she did.

-End of Chapter Twenty Eight


	29. Malicious Intent

Chapter Twenty Nine

"So what do you think, Tori?" Asgore asked. "I'm just not sure what to do about it."

Toriel smiled at her husband. "Gorey, dear, it's obvious."

"It is?"

She laughed. "Well, yes. You just need to teach him whatever you feel confident teaching him." She gave him a hug. "That's what I do. I know the history of monsters very well, especially having lived through so much of it. Teaching it is easy for me. Undyne tells me you taught her to fight. Maybe you could do the same for Asriel?"

Asgore looked skeptical. "Asriel isn't the type to want to fight. You know how he is. He's such a gentle soul."

"But he needs to learn. Even if he never fights, it will teach him a lot. In addition to learning that, it's about time for him to learn to use his magic to its full potential." Toriel smiled. "Have you felt the power that runs through him? He might be the most skilled magic user some day."

Asgore nodded. "That's always been more of your area, hasn't it? You've been more intellectual and skilled with magic. But yes, I've felt Asriel's power. It's remarkable. Then again, perhaps it's not so surprising, seeing who he has as a mother." He looked into Toriel's eyes and they touched their noses together.

"So you will teach him to fight?" Toriel asked.

"I suppose, dearest. I can teach him and Undyne together. She'd like that." Asgore smiled. "She can help teach him too. And I bet Frisk would like to join us."

Toriel rubbed her nose against his. "So it's settled. Tomorrow, you can give him a lesson after school. I'll teach him about his magic tonight."

"hOI!1!"

"Umm... Hello?" Linda wrinkled her nose. What was this... thing? Were those two sets of ears?

"i'm teMMIE!" Temmie looked at Linda joyfully. "awawawawah! huMAn... sUch a... cUtE!1"

Linda drew back. She couldn't even go for a walk without running into any of the abominations that roamed the surface. And this one thought she was cute? What?

"wAnt to pEt!" Temmie exclaimed, her arm extending towards Linda. The woman recoiled.

"N-no, don't. I-I'm allergic." She stammered.

"oh... dat okAy... tEM unnERstAn... tem also ALerGic to tEm." Red spots began appearing on Temmie's face. "hOIVS!" She shouted and ran off, face somehow trailing behind her.

Linda watched the creature go with a look of revulsion. What was wrong with that thing? It seemed to have broken the laws of physics several times in as many seconds. Just another reason to get rid of the monsters.

She walked onto the front porch of the nearby house and rang the doorbell. Gloria opened the door and they headed inside. There was work to be done. Helen couldn't do her job by herself. This required some teamwork.

Helen looked up at the imposing doorway with a no small amount of doubt. This plan was undoubtedly illegal, but it was important that they get it done. She steeled herself and entered the lab.

Inside, it wasn't nearly as intimidating as it had seemed. A little figurine stood on the desk-was that a girl with cat ears? Papers were scattered around the entire room. Empty soda cans filled the trash can along with instant noodle packets. Helen ignored the mess, however, and headed straight to the computer. "Linda?" She whispered.

"I'm here," Linda's voice came from the earpiece. "Are you in the lizard's office?"

"Yeah. I'm at the computer now." She wiggled the mouse, waking the computer from sleep mode. The desktop appeared, the background being a picture of the fish lady. Helen frowned. She knew there was something more than just friendship between the two. Disgusting.

"Okay, I'm sure there's some sort of report on past experiments. Look for something like that." Linda directed. "I think we can cook up something terrible in the Doctor's past."

Helen dug around in the computer files, which were much more organized than the papers on Alphys' desk. "I think I found it," she stated. Opened nag the file, she read through some initial reports. "Actually, I don't think we need to write anything."

"Huh?"

"She's already got some questionable experiments under her belt." Helen scrolled through the documents. "Experimenting on dead bodies or something. Seems like she managed to bring them back to life, but it went wrong."

Linda made a disgusted noise. "I knew they had something they were hiding. Those sick creatures."

"Should I make a copy?" Helen asked.

"Yes, get as many reports as you can. We want to have the best evidence possible to go up against them." Linda turned to Gloria. "Are you two in the system?" She asked.

"Yeah," she replied. The skinny teenager next to her nodded.

"I'm in. Remember, this is gonna cost you. I'm risking my reputation for this. It's not exactly legal to hack a government funded research facility."

"Of course, you'll get your money." Linda dismissed him. "Just be ready to do your job."

"Whenever you say the word."

"Linda?" Helen was speaking.

"What is it?" She asked. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I'm just almost ready." Helen pulled the flash drive from the USB port and stepped back. "Time to make our move."

Linda signaled to the hired hacker. With a few quick keystrokes, his job was done. The lab had lost power.

Helen was already on her way out the door. She heard sirens behind her, but kept going. Probably nothing important. Besides, that lizard freak could take care of it.

-End of Chapter Twenty Nine


	30. The Scientist and the Student

Chapter Thirty

"I-I can take care of this!" Alphys shouted, more to convince herself than others. She frantically tried to turn on the machine, but power still hadn't been restored.

The emergency lights cast jagged shadows throughout the lab. In the empty room where they had accessed the void, darkness was swirling angrily. The machine had lost power before the containment process could be completed. That meant the void was loose, nothing restraining it.

Tendrils of darkness snaked towards the window. Alphys thought furiously. There must be some way to stop it. But without any power, they had no tools to fight back.

Suddenly, a cloaked figure materialized in the center of the lab. A skeletal hand with a hole through the center emerged from the tattered fabric. Alphys looked up at the distorted face. Two cracks ran along the bone, leading to hollow eyes. One was glowing orange, the other blue. From the figure's hand flowed a strange energy, pushing back against the void. The light grew blinding until it suddenly faded. The void was no longer present, but the figure was gone too.

Where he had been standing lay a scrap of paper. Alphys carefully picked it up. More symbols covered the surface. She hurried over to the translation chart they had printed and looked at it.

A sun, a left pointing hand, a bomb, another hand pointing to the left... Alphys compared the symbols. She finished decoding them and looked at the message.

Remember me?

Papyrus was sitting in the kitchen, working hard.

"SANS!"

"Yeah bro?" Sans responded from the other room.

"I THINK THE ANSWER MAY BE EITHER GEMINI OR PISCES. WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

"That's the horoscope, Papyrus."

"OH." The skeleton set the newspaper down. "IN THAT CASE, I HAVE SOLVED IT! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Hey, good work, bro." Sans said. "You're gettin' real good at that." He walked into the room and joined Papyrus at the table.

"SANS, TORIEL TOLD ME ABOUT THE PTA." Papyrus began. "SHE NEEDS OUR HELP TO DEFEND HER HONOR!"

"Yeah. I've been meaning to talk to you about that." Sans picked up the newspaper and scanned the first page disinterestedly. "So, uh, the people who are attaching Tori's honor... They're really jerks."

"BUT THEY CAN DO BETTER! I KNOW THEY CAN!"

Sans sighed. Part of him felt that Papyrus was right, but he still worried about Linda. The others were definitely bad, but from what he'd seen, she was a real piece of work. "Yeah, but they aren't going to change quickly. And they're planning something. They're trying to discredit all monsters. They want to send us back underground."

"BUT... WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO DO THAT?" Papyrus looked confused. "AFTER ALL, WE ARE SUPER COOL AND NICE!"

"Yeah, well, humans are weird sometimes. Some of them... They just aren't nice. Remember what I told you about the other timeline?"

Papyrus seemed to deflate. "YES..."

"Chara was one of those people. She enjoyed causing pain. I can't understand why." He looked as his hands. "I dunno. It's just... It's just the way some of them are."

Papyrus looked at Sans sadly for a moment. He knew that beneath his brothers cheerful jokes and lazy attitude was a layer of pain. He had never really understood why, though. After all, Sans was a great brother, despite his laziness. He should have been proud of that. But it always seemed like Sans was missing something. Come to think of it, he felt that way as well, sometimes. As if a part of their lives was blank.

Suddenly, Sans' left eye began to glow intensely. "SANS?" Papyrus asked, worried. He realized his right eye was glowing orange too, which had only happened occasionally when using strong magic. "SANS, WHAT IS GOING ON?"

"I... I don't know." Sans grunted. "But I feel really weird."

As soon as it had started, the glow faded away leaving the skeletons exhausted.

"WHAT... WAS THAT?" Papyrus panted. "IT FELT LIKE I WAS USING STRONG MAGIC, BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING."

Sans nodded. "Tori knows a lot about magic. I'll ask her." He grinned reassuringly. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Fuhuhuhu! That all you got, punk?" Undyne flashed a grin at Asriel as he panted and lowered the wooden sword. She had been teaching the prince the basics of swordplay. "C'mon, give it everything you've got! I can take it!

"Undyne, I don't wanna fight. Can't we go watch some anime or something?" Asriel asked hopefully.

"I'd love to, but your dad wants me to train you! You got those sword thingies, right? Chaos Sabers? Summoning a weapon takes real skill. And I'm gonna show you how to use that skill!" Undyne twirled her wooden spear expertly. "There may be a time when you'll need to defend yourself. Even Frisk had to fight from time to time! Hell, she fought me and won! Sort of."

"Well, if you insist." Asriel lifted his practice weapon. "Now what do you want me to do?"

"I taught you how to use the sword." Undyne spread her arms and smiled. "So, use it! Take on the challenge!"

"You want me to fight you?" Asriel asked dubiously.

"That's how I learned! Fighting your father! Now come on! We gonna talk or we gonna fight?"

Asriel shrugged. "If you say so." He spread his feet and lowered his center of gravity. "But-"

"Just go for it, kid!"

Asriel nodded and leapt forward, swinging upwards. Undyne easily blocked the attack and stepped to the side, sending Asriel staggering.

"Not too bad, kid, but be a little more cautious. Putting too much into your attack will throw you off balance." She turned to face him again. "Try again!"

Asriel looked her in the eye and stepped forward again, this time swinging from the side. Undyne raised her spear and blocked the blow, quickly spinning her weapon in a counterattack. Before it collided, she stopped the spear and lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Gotcha. Try to be less predictable. You gave away where you were coming from."

"I'm trying." Asriel grumbled. "You're a tough opponent."

"So was your dad. Man, can Asgore fight! I couldn't even touch him." She lowered the spear. "True, I was a pretty little kid at the time, but still. He just casually dodged and blocked everything I threw at him until-"

Asriel suddenly thrust the wooden sword towards Undyne, catching her off guard. The tip hit her in the stomach and she grunted.

"Does that count?" Asriel asked innocently. "Can we stop now?"

Undyne laughed and ruffled the fur on Asriel's head. "You got spirit, punk. I'll give you that. Let's call it quits for the day. I'm sure your father will want to see what you've learned when he gets home." She winked, although it looked more like blinking due to her covered eye. "Besides, I'm sure you want to hang out with Frisk, huh?" She laughed again.

Asriel blushed under his fur. "I guess." He mumbled.

"Yeah, you go and see how she's doing. I'll take care of the equipment." Undyne watched him leave, grinning to herself. The prince showed a lot of potential. He would be a real force for good someday. She recalled her own early days, following Gerson around and watching him protect the underground. That was when she realized how much she wanted to do the same, to be the best warrior she could be. She hoped that she could do the same for Asriel.

-End of Chapter Thirty

 **Chapter Thirty already? Wow, I have no life. Then again, I don't care. Anyway, I realized things were a little confusing in the last chapter. So, to clear up, the reason the PTA Moms from Hell turned off the power was to A) allow Helen to leave undetected (I dunno how she got in initially. Didn't think about that. Sue me) and B) just pure malice. These guys are major jerks. Anyway, it definitely had some interesting consequences, huh? W. D. Gaster has made his first real appearance. He's gonna show up pretty soon. But who is he, anyway? He stopped the void, so he can't be bad, right? I'll leave that up to you. Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. As always, thank you for your support!**

 **Umbreon31**


	31. Cooking Up Trouble

Chapter Thirty One

"Tori, we need to talk." Sans said. "I got some questions about magic. You know a lot about magical theory, right?"

Toriel looked up from the mixing bowl she had been using. "I have studied it, yes. Why? Has something happened?"

"Yeah, but I dunno what. Earlier today, Papyrus and I both felt the effects of using strong magic, but neither of us were doing anything." Sans shrugged. "My area of expertise is quantum mechanics. I thought you may know something about it."

"Hmm." Toriel frowned. "That is most peculiar. But you are brothers, and this happened simultaneously, correct?"

"Yeah, we were sitting at the table talking when it started." Sans replied.

"Let's see." Toriel thought deeply. "The source of magic is the SOUL. If something happens within the SOUL, it can lead to uncontrolled use of magic. But nothing happened around you?"

"Nope. No bones, no Blasters, no telekinesis. Nothing."

"Odd. Unless... Sans, where did you and Papyrus come from?"

"Huh? Snowdin." Sans was confused. "But what does that have to do with-"

"No, I mean your parents."

Sans shrugged. "It's always just been us. I don't know. As long as I can remember, Pap and I looked out for each other."

"But you had to have had parents." Toriel furrowed her brow. "You didn't come from nowhere."

"For all I know, we did. But what does this have to do with the magic acting up?"

"Parents mix parts of their SOUL when they have a child. This creates a sort of bond between parent and child. Your SOUL is a unique creation, partly your mother's, partly your father's, and partly your own. The parts that come from your parents still are connected to them. It's possible if one of them is using a particularly strong piece of magic, it can draw from the child's SOUL for extra power."

"So you're saying that my mom or dad were using some sort of powerful magic."

"It's possible, yes." Toriel responded. "But magical theory is still a huge mystery. It could also be something entirely different." She shrugged. "Honestly, Sans, it could be anything. But that's the only possibility I know of. You might try asking Alphys, since magic comes from the SOUL. That's what she researches, after all. But she's going to be gone for a few days. They're working hard at the lab."

Sans nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, Tori."

"Oh, I almost forgot. The PTA meeting is coming up tomorrow. I hope you are prepared." She looked worried. "It may be tough to convince some of the board members. They aren't all particularly friendly towards monsters."

"Don't worry about it. I'm ready for whatever those ladies can throw at me.

Monday had arrived, and it was a busy day in the school kitchen. Papyrus stirred his spaghetti cheerfully, watching the steam rise from the pot. He scooped a single noodle from the pot and tasted it. It was fully cooked.

He picked up the pot and carried it to the sink. Tipping the pot, he dumped everything into a colander, letting the water run out while keeping the noodles. As the steam cleared, he looked up and saw a woman with an apron that he hadn't met before.

"HELLO!" He greeted enthusiastically. "MY NAME IS PAPYRUS! WHO ARE YOU?"

The woman smiled. "I'm a new lunch lady. Pleasure to meet you." She stuck out her hand and Papyrus shook it.

"I AM MAKING SPAGHETTI RIGHT NOW! IT IS MY SPECIALTY!" He informed her.

"Yes, I can see that." She watched the skeleton put the noodles back in the pot and carry it back to the stove. "But are you using ipecac?"

"WHAT IS IPECAC?" Papyrus asked. "I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS INGREDIENT."

"You've never heard of ipecac?" The woman looked amazed. "It's a great ingredient that really makes you want to taste your food again!"

"WOWIE!" Papyrus was impressed. "WHERE CAN I GET THIS?"

"Oh, I have a bottle here." The woman pulled one out of an apron pocket. "Here, try it."

Papyrus took the bottle and poured some of the liquid in with the sauce. He then mixed the sauce in with the pasta, glad to have found a new addition to his recipe. He turned and handed the bottle back to the woman. "THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE TIP!" He exclaimed. "MY PASTA WILL BE SO MUCH BETTER NOW!"

The woman smiled. "Oh, of course. I'm sure the children will love it."

Gloria tossed the apron aside and smiled. That fool skeleton had been so easy to trick. Make you want to taste your food again, indeed. She snorted.

At the same time, there was a tug on her conscience. Lots of kids would get sick. But it was a necessary sacrifice. They'd be thankful in the future once the freaks were all gone.

She got in her car and headed back to Linda's house. Time to report back.

Upon arrival, Linda came out of the house to greet her. Gloria noted something akin to insanity burning in her friend's eyes for a split second before it was gone. She dismissed it as a trick of the light.

"You did it?" Linda asked.

"Yeah, it's ready. There's no way that the skeleton will have a job after this." Gloria grinned. "He'll be fired in seconds flat."

"Good. Just in time for the meeting. I heard he'll be there to support the teacher. So will the little skeleton, but we couldn't do anything to him. He's pretty low profile." Linda flicked a speck of dust from her jacket. "As for Toriel herself, we'll stick with our original claims."

"Okay. What about the gardener? Asgore, was it? Do we have anything on him?"

Linda grinned unsettlingly. "Oh, do we ever. He's responsible for several human deaths. And we didn't need to fabricate that."

"Well, lets sort everything out to present our case. The Board has enough legal power to take this to higher levels, and from there, we can easily rid the world of monsters." Gloria held up a flash drive. "I've got the pictures of the fish from Fourside here. Does Helen have the files from the lab?"

"Yes. She's inside. Now let's get to work. We need to be prepared." Linda

-End of Chapter Thirty One

 **So if you don't know what syrup of ipecac is, I suggest looking it up before going any further. Let's just say the school will have its hands full. Anyway, this chapter is another shorter one, since the next chapter will be the finale of this story arc. It may take a while in getting out to you guys due to it being much longer than the others. It might end up being split into two parts as well. I don't really know.**

 **There's a small Easter Egg in the second to last paragraph. It gives a bit of insight as to the world they live in. Bonus points to anybody who gets it! This will be more impactful in the next story arc as well...**

 **On another note, Gaster's identity has been hinted at to the point of no return. But what are his intentions? You'll have to wait and see...**

 **Anyway, thanks for all the support! I read all the reviews and respond to many of them, so if there's anything you want to say or a question you have, let me know! Things are about to get intense!**

 **Umbreon31**


	32. The Meeting

Chapter Thirty Two

"Fabulous to see you, darling!" Mettaton embraced Toriel, much to her surprise. "I am prepared for whatever drama may unfold this fateful night."

"O-oh, thank you. I'm glad you want to help." Toriel responded to the robot's greeting. "How are things going for you?"

"Blooky has just signed a recording contract with a local studio. Shyren is joining them and they're making a new album. It's wonderful! As for me, I've been cast in a new show. But I'm afraid I can't reveal anything about it. The producers don't want anything leaked!"

"Sounds exciting." Sans had blinked into existence in the front hall. "I'm sure it's keeping you busy."

"Oh, it is, darling." Mettaton shrugged. "But it's nothing I can't handle."

"IS THAT METTATON?" Papyrus' voice came from the next room. "I'M ALMOST READY!" The skeleton poked his head around the corner. "HAS ANYONE SEEN MY BONE COLOGNE?"

"Last I saw it was on your dresser, bro." Sans told him. As Papyrus ran back upstairs, Sans turned to Mettaton. "He should be a little more calm this time. He's gotten used to the idea of meeting a celebrity."

"I quite understand. I've gotten used to being one." Mettaton smiled. "Although I must admit, it wasn't easy."

Papyrus came back downstairs. Toriel looked at him, amused. He had changed from his normal outfit to a simple polo and khaki pants. On his head perched a rather out-of-place top hat.

"Papyrus?" She started.

"YES, TORIEL?"

"You don't really need that hat. It's not a particularly formal event." She hid a smile. "Although it does look quite nice on you."

"OH." Papyrus removed the hat and tossed it aside. "I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE EXCESSIVE."

Mettaton observed all this with a bemused look on his face. "Well then," he said. "Shall we get going?"

Toriel nodded. "I hate to leave the kids home. Something happened at school today. There was a massive outbreak of sickness, and Frisk and Asriel were caught up in it. But Undyne has promised to keep an eye on them, and it is imperative that I attend this meeting."

"Hey, don't worry, Tori. Undyne can keep an eye on them." Sans winked.

She giggled. "Sans, you really know how to make an old woman laugh."

The school always seemed a lot different at night. Toriel looked up at the building. For some reason, it felt imposing tonight. Perhaps it was due to what was at stake.

She entered the meeting room, Sans, Papyrus, and Mettaton following closely behind. Asgore, who had been working all day on a new garden behind the school, waved from the other side of the table. The monsters joined him. More parents and faculty filed into the room. Soon it was full.

The meeting began.

It started out as any other. Discussions of finances, policies, and other issues were tossed around. Finally, it came time for a staff evaluation.

"It has been noted that the History of Monsters teacher, Mrs. Toriel Dreemurr, has had some complaints filed against her." An elderly board member stated. "In compliance with our policies, her performance shall be evaluated. If anyone has something to say, now is the time."

Linda cleared her throat and stood up. "I have many things to say. From what my daughter has told me, Mrs. Dreemurr has frightened many students with tall tales regarding events that likely never happened, calling them 'history'. She tells of wars in which monsters were slaughtered and humans were barbaric. My poor Jill was terrified that the monsters had returned to take revenge."

Asgore stood up. "This is ridiculous. The war between humans and monsters was a very real event. And the thought that we want revenge? If that were the case, why would we be trying to fit into society?"

Linda shrugged. "You put yourselves into positions where you can indoctrinate our children into thinking that humans are in the wrong. And why wouldn't we worry about revenge?" She smiled sweetly. "Aren't you responsible for several human deaths?"

Asgore turned pale and bowed his head. "It is true. I concede to that. However, you must understand. Several of these humans had come into our homes and were killing us."

"And the others?" Linda asked with false concern.

"...some were indeed innocent." Asgore admitted quietly. "And there is nothing that weighs on me more than those deaths." He sat down. "My son... He was killed by humans many years ago. They attacked him without cause. He did not fight back. But they slaughtered him just the same. In the aftermath, the grief, I made a vow. It was a terrible decision and I've paid dearly for it. But I must implore you, do not prosecute an entire race because of the actions of an old man. I did that once, and it was the worst choice I ever made."

"Your son?" Linda asked doubtfully. "Last I saw he was very much alive."

"It's complicated." Sans spoke up. "I don't think you'd understand half of it." Linda shot him a venomous look. He simply shrugged, his grin never fading. "Seriously, it involves quantum mechanics and alternate layers of reality."

"Yes, and what about that? What kind of terrible things have you monsters done? That yellow lizard, Doctor Alphys, she did horrible experiments on corpses, for God's sake!"

At this, Mettaton stood up. "Those monsters were not dead. But they were going to be soon. Alphys saved their lives."

Linda sneered. "And how would you know this? What even are you?"

"My name is Mettaton. I was once a ghost. Alphys was kind enough to create this body for me. If you want the full story, my autobiography goes on sale next month. It's full of interesting facts and full color pictures!"

Papyrus raised his hand. "CAN I RESERVE A COPY?"

"Of course, darling. But that is beside the point. Alphys created me. She gave me a new life. The amalgamates are in the same boat. It was only a matter of time before they turned to dust. And although the results weren't pretty, they are undoubtedly still alive."

Linda muttered something under her breath. Gloria stood up to take her place. "What about the aggression against humans some of your kind have demonstrated?"

Asgore furrowed his brow. "Aggression? What do you mean?"

"The fish lady. She was photographed attaching a human last Thursday." Gloria produced a print of Undyne holding a spear to the mugger's throat.

"Wh-Undyne?" Asgore was taken aback. "She would never..."

"Clearly she did." Gloria crossed her arms.

"IF I MAY INTERRUPT?" Papyrus held up a hand. "UNDYNE IS ONE OF MY GREATEST FRIENDS. SHE TRAINED ME TO BECOME PART OF THE ROYAL GAURD. SHE ALSO TAUGHT ME HOW TO COOK SPAGHETTI! BUT ONE THING THAT SHE WAS ALWAYS SURE TO TEACH WAS HONOR. HER CODE OF HONOR WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPLEX THE LARGEST OF BOULDERS. SHE WOULD NEVER ATTACK UNPROVOKED."

"I can actually attest to that." A new voice rang out. Everyone turned to see a man standing at the end of the room. "My name is Sergeant Nelson, and I work in the Fourside police department. We received an anonymous call last Thursday about an attempted mugging. It led us to that alley. By the time we got there, there was no suspect in sight. But we did find a knife with the fingerprints of a known criminal. As far as I'm concerned, this Undyne lady was attacked and fought back."

Gloria slowly sank back to her seat. Linda took her opportunity to stand back up, having regained some control. "Well, what about the most recent events? The mass sickness that happened earlier today? It was likely caused by food, correct? And who here prepared a majority of the lunch?"

Papyrus raised his hand excitedly.

"There you go." Linda said.

"BUT WAIT!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I THINK I KNOW WHAT MADE THE FOOD BAD!" Heads turned toward him. "I WAS GIVEN A NEW INGREDIENT TO USE FOR MY PASTA BY THE NEW LUNCH LADY. PERHAPS IT WAS OUT OF DATE OR DID NOT GO WELL WITH PASTA."

"But there is no new lunch lady." Principal Davis spoke up for the first time.

Toriel shot a suspicious glare at Linda. "Papyrus, do you remember what this ingredient was called?"

"OF COURSE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS A MIND LIKE A STEEL TRAP! IT WAS CALLED IPECAC!"

There was a startled reaction from some of the people present.

"Syrup of ipecac is an emetic." The school nurse stated. "That means it induces vomiting."

"So from what I'm hearing, the skeleton added a poisonous ingredient to the lunch." Linda stated.

"His hand may have held the bottle, but Papyrus did not do it on purpose." Sans was staring at Linda. "There isn't a mean bone in my brother's body. His heart is bigger than anyone else's, which is impressive seeing as how he has no organs. From what I am hearing, somebody posed as a lunch lady to get Papyrus to unknowingly add this ingredient."

Gloria became fascinated by the table.

"At any rate, the issue we were supposed to be debating was Toriel's position as a teacher. And Linda here decided to turn it into a war on monsters. She had a surprising amount of evidence on hand as well."

"Just what are you saying?"

Sans' grin widened, managing to infuriate Linda even more. "Nothing. Just trying to get the meeting back on track."

"So, the matter of Toriel." Principal Davis spoke up. "Does anyone else have something to share?"

"I most certainly do." Zach stood up. Sans gave him a nod. "My son Luke is in Mrs. Dreemurr's class. And he absolutely adores her. In fact, just last year he absolutely hated going to school. It took some real patience to get him out of bed. But this year, he's usually up before I am. It's a complete turnaround. And when he gets home, he talks about Mrs. Dreemurr a lot. She has made school feel like a good place for him. And I can't thank her enough."

Another woman spoke up. "My son Noah says the same thing. He loves Mrs. Dreemurr." Nods and murmurs of agreement broke out around the room.

"It seems we have reached a general consensus?" Principal Davis asked. "Shall we vote on the issue?"

"No. No. Nonononononono." Linda was shaking her head. "No. This wasn't how it was going to be. There was going to be a revolution! We would have taken our lives back! It would have been glorious!"

Helen looked at her friend, alarmed. This was not expected.

"All we had to do was start with one. Get rid of the teacher. From there, it would have been so easy." She was starting to shake. "We were so close!"

"Linda..." Gloria started.

"Shut up!" Linda snapped. There was something in her eyes that spoke of madness. "I can still make this work! Take one out, and the rest will fall!" She reached into her purse and everyone gasped. She had pulled out a pistol.

"Stop!" She shouted as panic began to break out. "Nobody do anything. Don't you all see? These freaks are going to destroy us! We can't sit here and let them! We need to destroy them!" With that, she leveled the gun at Toriel and fired a shot.

-End of Chapter Thirty Two

 **That's right, we got a cliffhanger! I'm glad with how quickly this chapter came together. Hopefully the next chapter will be the same. Or it might take a while. Who knows?**

 **Nah, I won't do that to you guys. I'm working hard on the next chapter now, so there won't be too much of a delay. Anyway, I hope this chapter was a good first part finale of this story arc!**

 **Also I have no idea how a PTA meeting works. I'm going off of absolutely nothing. I'd imagine it's something like this. But, y'know, probably without bullets.**

 **Umbreon31**


	33. Memory

Chapter Thirty Three

Asgore threw himself in front of his wife. There was no way he would allow her to be hurt. He closed his eyes and waited to be hit. But nothing happened.

He looked up. The bullet was suspended in midair, about a foot from him. Sans was staring at the bullet, blue energy blazing from his eye. Linda was facedown on the conference table, hands being cuffed behind her back by Sergeant Nelson. Gloria was babbling to him, confessing everything that they had done. It was over.

In the end, the food poisoning was determined to not have been Papyrus' fault, although the school advised him to be more wary. The three moms were all awaiting trial for various crimes, from breaking and entering to deliberately poisoning a group of people to attempted murder. There was no way they would get out of it.

It seemed like everything was going to go back to normal.

But life has a way of making sure that things never stay calm for long. Especially when your family includes several monsters, all with their own lovable quirks. One of which had tapped into a realm filled with mystery.

Alphys had secluded herself in her office. Empty soda cans littered the floor. She had barely slept for a few days. She couldn't. Her mind was running far too quickly for sleep.

The scrap of paper left behind by the mysterious figure lay on the desk. Remember me? It was driving her crazy.

She did remember. There was a whole segment of her mind that screamed at her. But it was locked away. There had to be an explanation.

"WingDings..." She muttered. "Why WingDings?" It seemed so significant somehow. Maybe Sans would know.

She stopped. Sans. There was a connection. Papyrus, too. There was something in her mind that brought the three together. Sans, Papyrus, and the mystery man.

WingDings.

W. D.

W. D. Gaster.

With a rush, memories flooded her head. Being led through the lab, instructed on the various instruments. Sans snoozing at a desk, the mysterious man scolding him. Papyrus as a young skeleton playing with action figures as she tinkered with a broken machine. And always, the man watching with a slight smile on his face.

The previous Royal Scientist. Her mentor. Sans' and Papyrus' father.

W. D. Gaster.

-End of Chapter Thirty Three

 **There ya go, everybody. Sorry the wrap-up was so short. I just didn't have too much to say and wanted to introduce the next story arc. However, I only introduced a part of it. There is still more to come.**

 **A lot of people guessed the outcome of the last cliffhanger ending. I guess it was pretty obvious, huh? Oh well. I was originally going to wrap up the entire thing in that chapter, but decided it would be better to split it up. Anyway, it may be a little while before I start to update the story, as I want to get a little ahead of what I post. Not to worry, though, as it should be only a few days.**

 **Anyway, a few announcements about the next Story Arc. For one, Temmie will play a role. Seeing all the reactions to her appearance was amusing and definitely solidified the idea that I should include everyone's favorite cat/dog/living meme creature. Another thing is the reference that a few people picked up on.**

 **This story takes place in Eagleland, the same place as Earthbound. However, I don't consider this a crossover as there are no characters that come directly from Earthbound. (Sans is not Ness. Don't worry.) It was just my way of acknowledging Toby's source of inspiration as well as leading into the next arc, which will indirectly reference Earthbound.**

 **So that's all I got for now! I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of this support. I can't begin to express how much it means to me without getting all melancholy. Let's just say it has vastly improved my view of myself. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the upcoming events!**

 **Umbreon31**


	34. Learning New Things

Chapter Thirty Four

Alphys picked up the phone. Sans and Papyrus had to know. Claws shaking more than usual when she used the phone, she dialed Sans's cell.

"Heya Alphys, you missed the big show. Mettaton did a great job defending you from those lunatics. You should thank him."

"Sans, I-I have something v-very important to t-tell you and P-Papyrus. C-can you get to th-the lab?" Alphys' stutter was worse than ever.

Sans' tone changed from laid back to a much more serious one. "Yeah, sure thing Alphys. I'll grab Pap and be there in a second. What's going on?"

"I-it's best I tell you in person. Th-this will be a r-real shock." She hesitated. "I-I don't even know if it's g-good news or bad."

"I'll be there in a second." Sans hung up. True to his word, he and Papyrus winked into existence moments later. Papyrus stepped back and shook his head.

"I HATE IT WHEN YOU DO THAT, SANS. AT LEAST GIVE ME SOME WARNING FIRST."

"Sorry, bro." Sans apologized. "But this is important." He turned to Alphys. "So what's up?"

"W. D. Gaster." She said. The skeletons looked at her blankly. "R-royal Scientist. Creator of th-the CORE. And m-most importantly, your f-father."

"...WHAT? I AM MORE CONFUSED THAN USUAL." Papyrus stated. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING AB-" He suddenly grasped his skull. "D-DAD?"

Sans simply closed his eyes. A drawing he had found in his lab came to mind. Don't Forget. He had forgotten. That much was clear.

Alphys nodded. "Are you remembering?" She asked. "I-it seems to be a triggered recall. Wh-when enough information is r-received, the memories return."

"Alphys, how did you remember? What was your trigger?"

"H-he returned. Gaster returned." She was shaking slightly. "Th-the void. He was in it. I-I found some messages written in W-WingDings. Th-then we h-had an emergency and the void w-was loose and Gaster showed up and he c-contained it and then he disappeared b-but left a m-message asking if I r-remembered and then I d-did so I called you and here you are." Alphys took a huge breath.

"SLOW DOWN, ALPHYS." Papyrus shook his head. "I'M STILL... I DON'T REMEMBER DAD VERY WELL EVEN NOW. I WAS PRETTY YOUNG WHEN HE VANISHED. ALL I CAN REMEMBER IS THAT HE WAS... ODD. HE CARED ABOUT US, BUT HAD A HARD TIME SHOWING IT."

"He told me about that." Sans replied. "One day, when he was teaching me how to use my magic, he described it to me. He said he had many duties. He had to care for us, his Royal Scientist job, and all the monsters. He worked himself so hard, it was difficult for him to show much emotion."

"W-well, we may be able to s-save him. I believe he has been l-living in the void somehow. If we can find him, it m-may be possible to bring him back to our plane of r-reality." Alphys was scribbling furiously in her notebook.

"YOU MEAN DAD WOULD BE BACK?" Papyrus looked excited. "WOWIE!"

"Wait, you said he contained the void? When was that?" Sans asked.

"S-Saturday."

Sans turned to his brother. "That'd explain the power drain, then. It was our parent." He grinned. "This is great! I can't believe Dad is alive!"

"D-don't get your hopes up too much. I'm still n-not sure what we can d-do to save him. He did materialize in our reality, b-but it was only momentary. W-we'll figure it out, though."

The school was closed in light of recent events. Police were still investigating Linda's trip off the deep end, and the board decided to give the staff present at last night's meeting a day to recover. Asriel, however, wasn't escaping an education.

"You've done it before, Asriel." Toriel reminded him. "You have the ability."

The prince focused. A small spark formed between his outstretched palms. He furrowed his brow as the spark fizzled and died.

"I can't do it." He complained. "It's really tough."

Toriel shook her head. "For you, my son, nothing should be too difficult. Did you not summon a weapon? That is highly advanced magic. Fire magic should be relatively simple."

He sighed and closed his eyes again. Another spark formed, this time flaring brightly before slowly fading.

"There you go! You're getting it now!" Toriel hugged him happily. "Keep practicing."

Frisk walked into the kitchen. "Hey, how's the lesson going?" She asked.

Asriel looked up. "Not that great." He mumbled.

"Don't be silly, you are doing a fine job!" Toriel encouraged him.

Asriel looked back at his hands and concentrated. The spark reappeared, this time slowly growing into an ember before fading again.

Frisk laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can do it, Azzy. I know you can."

Asriel shook his head. "I'm not so sure." He grumbled. He closed his eyes again. This time, a flame erupted from his palm, swirling into a ball. It hovered there for a moment before extinguishing itself.

"Whoa!" Frisk jumped back. "See? I told you you could do it!"

"Asriel, that was impressive." Toriel looked at him approvingly. "I've never seen someone as young as you summon a fireball that size."

He grinned sheepishly. "Alright, so maybe I can do it."

-End of Chapter Thirty Four


	35. Gerson

Chapter Thirty Five

"Kids, an old friend of mine is going to visit us tonight." Asgore announced. "I believe you both know him."

"Who, dad?" Asriel asked, yawning. They were on their way to school.

"Gerson. Do you remember him? I don't think he's seen you since you were fairly young. But he mentioned that you stopped by his little shop, Frisk."

"Oh yeah, the turtle guy!" Frisk smiled. "I like him. He's really friendly."

"Hohoho! That he is. Undyne will be excited too. He tells me she used to idolize him. In fact, he might want to watch us practice."

"Aww, dad," Asriel complained. "Do we have to tonight?"

"It's okay, Azzy." Frisk said. "I'll do it with you."

"Thanks, Frisk." Asriel smiled gratefully. "I'd like that."

"Hey, I want to learn how to fight too. You know, just in case." Her expression turned serious. "Mercy isn't always an option."

"At any rate, learning to fight can also teach you how to defend yourself." Toriel spoke up. "I believe Undyne taught you that firsthand, right Frisk?"

Frisk smiled ruefully. "Yeah, she sure did."

They arrived at school. Asgore collected his tools from the car trunk, kissed Toriel, and headed to the back of the building to work on the garden.

"Mom?" Frisk asked. "Are people going to be upset about what happened?"

"I don't know, sweetie. But don't worry about it. It will be fine."

"Where's Papyrus?" Asriel asked. The skeleton usually drove his recently purchased car separately, simply because he enjoyed it, but was often there to greet them before they even entered the building.

"Sans called me and said they were going to be staying with Alphys at the lab for a few days. He seemed excited about something. I let the school know, and they were okay with it."

"Hmm." Frisk thought for a moment. "I know Sans likes science and things, but what's Papyrus doing there?"

"I'm not sure. Sans didn't seem to want to tell me. He said he wanted to make sure it would work first, whatever it is they're doing."

They headed into the school. Principal Davis stopped them by the office. "Mrs. Dreemurr, could I have a word with you?" He asked.

Toriel smiled warmly. "Of course," she responded. "Go on, you two. Get to class." She shooed her children off.

They entered Principal Davis' office. He sat down at the desk and sighed heavily. "Mrs. Dreemurr, I can't apologize enough for what happened Monday night." He started. "It was quite shocking to all of us, I believe."

Toriel shook her head. "Mr. Davis, what happened was not your fault. Do not worry about it."

"I know, but I still feel responsible. I'm still finding it hard to believe anyone would want to hurt you. I know there is a lot of prejudice against monsters, but it was still a real surprise when Linda pulled the gun."

"I was surprised as well. I am simply glad Sans had the reflexes to stop the bullet."

"He is quite remarkable. I know you monsters can use magic, but it still is impressive to see." Principal Davis leaned back in his chair. "I don't have much else to say, only that I am glad you are okay."

Toriel nodded and rose. "Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare my lessons."

Sans stared into the void, impressed. Alphys was quite remarkable. She had achieved so much.

"WOWIE! LOOK AT ALL THE DARKNESS!" Papyrus exclaimed. "SO DAD IS SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT?"

"Guess so, Pap. The question is where, and how can we get him out." Sans looked away. "I just hope we can."

The short skeleton had swapped his blue hoodie for a lab coat. It suited him. Alphys came up to the pair, carrying her notebook.

"I m-made a list of potential problems we may run into. I don't know why G-Gaster didn't stay last time, and I'm assuming there was a reason." She opened her notebook. "Perhaps his body has adjusted to th-the void and he has issues in our reality. M-maybe the magic he performed required him to r-return to the void in order to seal it. That would be easy for us, actually."

Sans nodded. "That would mean all we have to do is get him here."

"B-but there are many more possibilities. It's hard to say wh-which is the case."

"MAYBE WE COULD ASK HIM?" Papyrus suggested. Sans and Alphys just looked at him.

"You know, that may work." Sans mused. "In fact, I don't see why it wouldn't."

Alphys nodded. "I-I don't know how much power Gaster has in the void. He may just be like a ghost in th-that reality. But he did l-leave messages. So there must be some way w-we can contact him as well."

"WHY NOT DO THE SAME THING HE DID?" Papyrus asked. "LEAVE HIM A MESSAGE, I MEAN. IT SHOULD WORK, RIGHT?"

Sans grinned and slapped his brother on the back. "We'll make a scientist out of you yet, Pap. Hell, you could teach us a thing or two." Papyrus beamed happily.

The school day passed uneventfully. There was a lot of chatter about the events of the PTA meeting, but it wasn't directly opposed to the monsters. Then again, it wasn't strictly in the monsters' favor either. Instead, there was a balance between the two sides, neither of which were particularly vocal about their stance.

Things could have been far worse, Asgore reflected. With everything that Linda had brought up, he was surprised that things had turned out as well as they had. True, he had previously informed the school of the regrettable decision he had made, but now many more people knew about it. Things may change yet, he thought. Only time will tell.

He stepped back and admired his handiwork. A path led through a garden filled with some short trees, flowerbeds, and even a small pond. The students could come out here to learn about nature, he thought. Perhaps raise butterflies and release them in the garden. It would be a good experience for them.

He bent down and collected his tools. Toriel would probably be ready to go by now. He headed to the parking lot, humming quietly to himself. When he reached his destination, Asriel and Frisk saw him and ran up, laughing.

"Hi dad!" They both exclaimed, hugging him.

"Hohoho! Howdy, kids." He smiled cheerfully.

"Guess what we did in art!" Frisk said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Asriel echoed.

"Hmmm... Did you paint something?" Asgore asked.

"We made stuff out of clay!" Asriel said. "I made a snail and Frisk made Mettaton!"

"Sort of." Frisk admitted. "It's his box form, and I can't get the wheel right."

Asgore nodded. "I can see how that would be difficult." The group got into the van and headed home.

"How did your day go, dear?" Toriel asked.

"It was great! I'm almost done with the landscaping. How about yours?"

"Oh, it was alright. A lot of students kept asking about the meeting, so it was hard to get much done." She shrugged. "That's to be expected with kids, though. They are naturally curious. What do you have planned for tonight? I will take care of making dinner."

"You always do." Asgore chuckled. "I won't complain though. You are a fabulous cook."

Toriel shrugged modestly. "I enjoy it."

"Well, Gerson will arrive at around five o'clock. I'm sure he has plenty of stories to tell the kids- and Undyne, for that matter. You know how he is with his stories."

Toriel laughed gently. "He really enjoys that, doesn't he?"

"As I mentioned earlier, he will probably want to see us training. He's got a real soft spot for Undyne, you know. I'm sure he'd love to see her in action."

"Didn't he say he had something to tell us?" Toriel asked. "Something important?

Asgore nodded. "I'm not sure what he's been up to, only that he's been traveling a little bit. Lately he's been in Twoson."

"That's nearby, isn't it?" Toriel asked.

"It's pretty close." Asgore said as he pulled into the driveway. "We're home!"

Five o'clock came. There was a knock on the door and Asgore went to open it. Gerson stood outside, leaning on a walking stick and grinning with the few teeth he had left.

"Gerson, my old friend!" Asgore exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Old is right," Gerson replied, chuckling. "But you look the same as ever!"

The two men embraced. Asgore looked up and noticed that there was no car parked in the driveway.

"Did you walk here?" He asked.

"Course I did! Now that I'm back on the surface, I feel fit as a fiddle! These old bones aren't done yet! Wah hah hah!"

Asgore shook his head. "You'll never cease to amaze me. Now please, come in! The kids are excited to see you!"

"I'll bet they are! Undyne's probably bursting at the gills!" He chuckled again. "Though I suppose she's not the kid you're referring to. Just feels that way. When you're as old as I am, anyone under one hundred seems young. Although I'd suppose you know the feeling, eh?"

Asgore shrugged. "A little. Not aging normally wreaks havoc on your viewpoint of age."

"Well, I suppose that it would." With that, Gerson spotted Toriel in the kitchen. "Your majesty!" He exclaimed with a bow.

"Hello, Gerson!" The queen greeted him with a smile. "We've been over this before. Please, just call me Toriel."

"As you wish, Toriel. But you are still my queen. And a lovely one at that." He winked flirtatiously.

She giggled. "You charmer. Better watch out, Asgore. You've got some competition."

Asgore grinned widely. "Now please, come meet the children! They've been dying to see you!" He escorted his friend to the living room.

"GERSON!" Undyne flew forward and squeezed the old turtle in a hug. "God, it's been too long!"

"Wah hah hah! You're feeling that way too, eh?" He hugged her back. "My word, you've grown so much since you first followed me on my patrol."

Undyne shrugged. "Sorry I couldn't talk much while we were still in the underground. Royal Guard duties took up a lot of my time."

"I understand. I was a knight too, once." He looked to Asriel and Frisk, who were watching the whole exchange. "And here we have the reborn prince! Asriel, you are looking like you will be a fine young man!"

Asriel blushed and murmured a thank you.

"A little shy, huh? You're not unlike your father at your age. And you!" He looked at Frisk. "Thank you for your business." He grinned. "And the whole saving-all-monsters thing."

Frisk smiled. "You're welcome, sir!" She said cheerfully.

"Just call me Gerson. Now, how 'bout I tell all you youngsters a story of when I was a knight?"

Asgore grinned at Toriel. "I told you."

-End of Chapter Thirty Five

 **Whew! That was a long one. Kind of making up for the shorter chapters as of late.**

 **So, Gerson brought some news! What could it be? Perhaps the plot of this story arc? Maybe lessons on how to give more subtle hints?**

 **I plan on skipping over Gerson's story for pacing purposes, but I also plan on writing it as a separate fic. Be prepared to see that in the future!**

 **Some of you may see similarities between this and one of Dreemurr Reborn's comic series (that unfortunately kind of cut off) featuring a similar situation where Gerson comes for a visit. I'll admit, that was largely an inspiration for this. But I will definitely be making some changes. I'm not a total copycat. I mean, already there are some differences, but there will be more differences later on. You know what, I'm not even sure what I'm trying to get at, so I'll just stop typing.**

 **As always, thank you so much for all the support!**

 **Umbreon31**


	36. Revelations

Chapter Thirty Six

"So, whaddaya think? Do you want to hear another?" Gerson grinned toothily. "I got plenty more. Not all of 'em true, mind you. Wah hah hah!"

"Heck yeah!" Undyne shouted.

"And he can tell it over dinner." Toriel interrupted her. "It's ready now!"

"It has been far too long since I've had the queen's cooking," The old turtle mused. "I'm anxious to see what you made!"

Toriel smiled modestly. "Oh, it's not much. Just some turkey."

"Well, it smells mighty nice." Gerson sniffed the air appreciatively and sat down.

"Tell us another story!" Frisk begged. "They're so good!"

"How 'bout I tell one that just happened to me?" He shot the king and queen a meaningful look. "It's true, and pretty interesting. Y'see, I came from Twoson. Nice place. Anyway, I was askin' around because I'd heard some... Rumors. It seems that there was a school there some years ago. A special school. Taught humans to use their magic."

Gerson smiled knowingly at the shocked looks on everyone's faces. "Now, I know what you're thinking. Humans haven't used magic for ages. The seven magicians who sealed us underground were among the last known. And you'd be right. But I did some digging. You know how I am, Asgore. Can't resist an interesting mystery."

Asgore nodded. "That's certainly true. Remember when we checked out that old map when we were young that led to supposed treasure? You insisted there would be a great find at the end. But all we came across was a little white dog sleeping in the woods."

"Aye, I remember. You were fairly disappointed, I recall. But we sure had a good time, eh? Anyway, back to my story. Turns out that school did exist. Taught by a young girl named Paula. But she vanished. Nobody seems to know where she went. At any rate, the students left. Well, most of them." He paused and pointed to his plate. "These mashed potatoes are spectacular, Toriel. How do you manage to cook everything so perfectly?"

"Cut it out, Gerson." Asgore said with a grin. "I know your tactics for building suspense."

"Wah hah hah! So you can't wait to hear more, eh? Can't say I blame ya. It's pretty fascinating stuff." Gerson continued. "So, I heard rumors of some of the former students in the area. Decided to check 'em out. Turns out there was one living nearby. I managed to contact her." He spread his arms. "It's true. She could do magic. Not particularly well, mind you, as it has been nearly twenty years since she first learned. But she could summon sparks of electricity. Called it PSI. No idea why. But it was definitely magic." He leaned back. "So there ya go. There are still humans who can do magic."

"But... That's incredible." Toriel looked astonished. "With this, maybe the world will see we aren't so different."

"Yep, I was gettin' to that." Gerson replied. "I heard about all the ruckus that took place at the school. Had an idea for a way to show a bit of a peace offering. What do you say you teach some humans how to use their magic?"

Papyrus dumped a pile of notes on the table. He had been busy writing them. Some were simple (Hi, dad!) while others were long paragraphs telling Gaster how he and Sans were doing. Alphys entered the lab yawning.

"GOOD MORNING!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I HAVE PREPARED SOME MESSAGES FOR GASTER!"

Alphys rubbed her eyes. "Papyrus, it's six AM. Why d-did you wake up so early?"

"I DIDN'T."

"Huh?" Alphys blinked heavily.

"I NEVER SLEPT." Papyrus scribbled on another sheet of paper. "I WAS BUSY."

"Papyrus, you'll n-need to sleep. You do know that, r-right?" Alphys asked, concerned. "The lab has quite a few places t-to get some rest."

"I DON'T NEED IT." Papyrus insisted. "SANS GETS ENOUGH SLEEP FOR BOTH OF US."

Alphys smiled in spite of herself. "Th-that's not how it w-works." She sat down beside him and glanced over all of his notes. "Y-you wrote all of this?" Papyrus nodded. "I guess it m-means a lot to you. Finding your f-father."

"IT DOES. SANS AND I HAVE TAKEN CARE OF EACH OTHER PRETTY WELL, BUT HAVING DAD BACK WOULD BE SO NICE."

Alphys was silent for a minute. "What about y-your mother?" She finally asked. "I d-don't want to pry, but Gaster never m-mentioned a wife."

Papyrus only shrugged. "I DON'T KNOW. AS I SAID BEFORE, I WAS YOUNG WHEN DAD DISAPPEARED."

"She vanished one day."

Alphys jumped and looked to her right. Sans was casually sitting in the chair next to her, slippers up on the table.

"I think that was right after you were born, Pap. I can't remember too well. There you were, my babybones brother, but mom was gone." He shrugged noncommittally. "Dad never liked talking about it."

"I'm sorry." Alphys said quietly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Let's just focus on Dad. I see you two got an early start." Sans observed.

"More like a l-late start for your brother. He's been up all night."

Sans sighed. "Pap, we've talked about this. You need to sleep."

"BUT SANS-"

"No buts, bro. I know you're excited about Dad. I am too. You need sleep though."

"OKAY..." Papyrus grumbled, sounding like a kid who had been told no. "BUT I AM NOT TIRED YET! CAN WE AT LEAST SEND THESE MESSAGES TO DAD?"

Sans nodded. "Sure. Alphys, you do the honors."

Alphys got up and headed to the computer terminal. With a few keystrokes, the machine started up with a hum. The void appeared, swirling calmly.

"DO WE JUST PUT THE LETTERS IN?" Papyrus asked.

Alphys shrugged. "I g-guess so. I'm not sure what else there is to d-do."

Papyrus opened the recently installed airlock-style door leading to the void room and placed his piles of notes inside. He then closed the door and stepped back. The door on the far end opened and Alphys adjusted something on the computer. The void expanded until it reached the letters, which slowly drifted off into the darkness.

The messages to Gaster were on their way.

-End of Chapter Thirty Six

 **First of all, I apologize for the delay. I've been pretty busy with robotics competitions, schoolwork, and working on YouTube videos. But anyway, this story arc has been revealed! Humans that can use magic...**

 **As for the Earthbound references, that'll probably be the last of them for a while. At least, the last references to major plot points and such.**

 **I'm pretty excited to be doing this, as I want to explore more deeply into what magic is. Toriel's explanation to Sans about the unexpected use of magic was oddly fun to write and I want to do some more of that. Also, as I mentioned in some replies to reviews, Temmie will play an important role. The reason for this will be explained in a few chapters...**

 **Well, that's all for now. Thank you all for your continued support!**

 **Umbreon31**


	37. Progress?

Chapter Thirty Seven

"This is a good sign," Asgore commented. "If we can show humans how to use magic, perhaps they will be more willing to accept us into society."

Toriel wasn't as confident. "Are you sure about that, Gorey? After all, there's the chance that they will fear us for our skills. That was what caused the first war, after all."

"That's the beauty of it. By teaching humans to use magic, we give them power in return." He smiled. "I don't see this going poorly. After all, you will be the one teaching them."

"Oh, stop." She smiled. "That doesn't ensure success."

"Why wouldn't it?" Asgore put his hands on her waist. "You know how great you are at that."

Toriel hugged him. "I suppose. I'm just... Worried about it."

"Naturally." Asgore gave her nose a nuzzle. "You are a mother, after all."

"Nice block!" Undyne grinned widely. "You're definitely getting better."

"Thanks." Asriel panted. "But Frisk isn't exactly a tough opponent."

"Hey!" Frisk shouted indignantly.

Asriel merely shrugged. "Well, it's true. You aren't doing too much to fight me."

"Consider yourself lucky." Frisk grumbled, but she was smiling. "I guess you're right. I don't really want to fight you."

"Who _do_ you want to fight?" Undyne asked. "Anyone?"

Frisk shook her head. "No, not really."

"Well, neither do I." Asriel said. "But you can at least try a little bit. C'mon, you aren't going to hurt me."

Undyne watched as Frisk took up a balanced stance, holding her wooden sword up. Asriel did the same. He had definitely been much more eager to practice since Frisk had joined him. He seemed to always stand a little straighter and work a little harder when she was around. It was pretty adorable, actually.

"Ready?" Undyne asked. Both kids nodded. "Go!"

Frisk stepped forward and swung from the right. Asriel easily blocked and sidestepped, following up with an overhead swing. Frisk ducked to the left and attacked again, catching Asriel on the calf.

"Oww." Asriel grumbled, rubbing the foam padding on his legs.

"Not gonna hurt you, huh?" Frisk teased.

"Aww, it doesn't hurt. Just surprised me." He smiled. "Good job."

"I'll say the same to you, Azzy." Frisk replied. "You almost got me on that attack." She adjusted her kendo helmet. "But I'm good at dodging. That's what I did a lot in the underground."

"You're not too shabby when it comes to blocking either." Undyne spoke up. "I threw loads of spears at you, and you defended yourself like a pro!"

"I had practice." Frisk shrugged noncommittally.

"Huh? When?" Undyne asked, confused.

"Oh... Um, well, against you." Frisk looked down. "I didn't exactly get past you on my first try."

"What do you- oh, right. The LOADing. Sans told us about that when you ran off." Undyne looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry about that. I didn't know that you were so cool then."

"It's okay. Like you said to Asgore, a lot of you tried to kill me at some point." Frisk smiled. "It's a good thing I'm so tough."

"It can't be as bad as what I did, anyway." Asriel said, looking down. "I killed Frisk over and over."

"Azzy, we talked about this. I'm fine. That wasn't really you. That was Flowey." Frisk put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself for that."

"Yeah, I know." He looked back up, a new light in his eyes. "I have a fresh start now."

Alphys stared into the void, lost in thought. This couldn't fail. She needed it to succeed. It just had to work. If it didn't... She shook her head. It would, she told herself.

Sans popped into existence beside her. "Heya." He greeted.

"Hmm?" Alphys mumbled, still thinking.

"You, uh, you okay?" Sans asked. "You're looking kind of sad. Like a down-osaur."

Alphys shot him a glance. "Y-you can tell? Yeah, I'm a little w-worried about this."

"Tell me about it." Sans agreed. "Papyrus doesn't seem to feel that way, but I sure do."

"Papyrus never lets a-anything get him down, does he?" Alphys smiled wanly. "God, I w-wish I could be like him."

"Don't we all." Sans stared out the window. "What's your main concern?"

"Th-that we can't do it. That Gaster will be st-stuck in the void. I... I've had a lot of failure." Alphys stared at her feet. "I don't think I c-can handle any more."

"Failure?" Sans asked. "When did you fail?"

"Are you kidding? F-first there were the amalgamates, then there was the whole m-mess where I tried to play the hero for Frisk, and in the end, n-none of my research actually helped us." She sighed deeply. "I c-can't do anything right."

"Alphys. You need to take a look around." Sans gestured to the room they were standing in. "Who built this machine? Who retrieved Asriel's SOUL? Who found Gaster and remembered who he was? Who brought monsters back to life, even if they are a little... different?" He pointed at her. "You did, Alphys. You've done amazing things"

"W-well, when you put it like that..." Alphys smiled in spite of herself.

"I'm only saying what's true. Now let's go check on Papyrus. I haven't seen him in a while. God knows what he's gotten in to." He grinned. "He may have found your instant noodle stash. And you know how he gets around any kind of pasta."

-End of Chapter Thirty Seven

 **Well, I'm very late and very sorry. Things have been... interesting. Let's leave it at that.**

 **On the bright side, I'm still going. I really have nothing else to say. Okay bye.**

 **Umbreon31**


	38. Questions

Chapter Thirty Eight

As it turned out, Papyrus had not found Alphys' noodles, but rather had struck up a conversation with Mark Stewart. The scientist was curious about how the skeleton was built. Papyrus was trying to explain it to him when Alphys and Sans found him.

"WE ARE MADE OF BONES AND MAGIC," Papyrus explained. "IT'S WHAT GIVES US LIFE AND HOLDS US TOGETHER."

"Yes, but where did the bones come from? Are you... reanimated?" Mark tried to put it lightly.

"WHAT?" Papyrus was confused.

Mark turned slightly red. "Well, what I mean is... were you alive at some point?"

"I'M ALIVE NOW!"

"But... before that. What I'm trying to say is... Are you like a zombie or something?"

Sans chuckled as Mark fumbled for words. "Nah. We were born like this. Nothin' but bones. I'm Sans. I see you met my brother."j

Mark turned around. "Oh, hello. I'm, uh, sorry." He looked rather flustered. "I didn't realize you came in. I-I didn't mean to be insensitive."

"Nah, forget about it. I've heard worse. You were just curious." He grinned. "You are a scientist, after all."

Mark relaxed. "I guess that's true. Thanks for being so understanding. My name's Mark. I work with Alphys a lot."

"Nice to meetcha." Sans winked. "She's a real smart one, huh?"

"Tell me about it. When she introduced me to Mettaton, I pretty much lost it. That's some highly advanced robotics, not to mention the fact that he's sentient!"

"W-well, I didn't program him. He's a ghost in the m-machine, if you will." Alphys said, blushing slightly. "C'mon you g-guys, I'm not that great."

"You kidding?" Mark asked. "Look at what you've done."

"Just did that, bro." Sans spoke up. "I'm thinking we should find new ways to show Alphys how awesome she is."

"I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS GIVEN THE MISSION TO DO SO BY UNDYNE!" Papyrus interjected.

"Guys, st-stop. I'm fine." Alphys was bright red now. "I know I've done a lot. I'm just being m-modest, I guess.

"Whatever you say," Mark grinned at Sans. "So how is your dad project going? Alphys filled me in on what you're doing the other day."

"WE'RE WAITING FOR A REPLY!" Papyrus told him. "I HOPE WE GET ONE SOON!"

"I'm sure we will." Sans reassured his brother.

"Sp-speaking of that, I-I can run a scan to check if there's anything of note in the area of the void we h-have access to." Alphys said. "We sh-should have left enough time for him to respond, assuming time flows in the same w-way between the realities."

"LET'S DO IT!" Papyrus shouted happily. He sprang to his feet and disappeared down the hall, a faint 'NYEH HEH HEH' trailing behind him.

Asgore sighed heavily. "Asriel, I know it's difficult. But you've done it twice now. You can do it." He gave his son a reassuring smile.

Asriel closed his eyes and focused. Nothing happened. "Dad, last time it was an emergency. I don't think I can do it just because. I need a reason."

"Hmm." Asgore thought for a moment. "There may be more to it than just a surge of power from a dangerous situation."

"I'm pretty sure there is." Asriel grumbled. "I don't need to fight right now. I don't really ever need to fight."

Asgore lowered his head. "You did with Chara." His voice turned somber. "Asriel, there will come times when you have no choice. When the only option is to fight. It's not only self-preservation, either. It can be for your people. I learned that the hard way. When humans declared war on us, I fought only to protect my people. If I wanted to, I could have slaughtered many. I simply tried to defend, but it wasn't enough. Monsters were slaughtered. I often wonder what could have gone differently if I had let myself fight with all my strength..."

Asriel was silent.

"But enough about that. I think it is very possible you are unable to summon your swords unless it is truly a time of great need. I've heard of such things before."

"So can I go play with Frisk now?"

Asgore smiled and ruffled the fur on Asriel's head. "Alright, son, go ahead and play."

-End of Chapter Thirty Eight

 **Yeah, it's really short. I know. I just didn't see any way I could continue this chapter while keeping continuity in check. Don't ask me what I mean by that, because I'm not entirely sure myself. The point is, I have my reasons for keeping this chapter short.**

 **Anyway, updates may slow down for this story for a while, as there are a lot of things going on in my life, not all of which are easy to deal with. But don't worry about me. I'll get through it. I always do. I'm a determined sort.**

 **On the bright side, if any of you are fans of the Star Fox series, I've started a fic for that. So keep an eye out!**

 **That's it for now,**

 **Umbreon31**


	39. Answers

Chapter Thirty Nine

Undyne stared moodily out the window. She was bored, plain and simple. With Alphys and Papyrus away, there wasn't too much for her to do. She had tried to ask for more shifts at the gym, but they insisted she rest now and then. She snorted thinking about it again. They thought she would wear herself out. There was no way that'd happen.

She sighed and looked at the end table next to the couch. Several VHS tapes were stacked there, various anime collections that she had checked out of the library. It didn't feel right to watch them without Alphys. She grumbled slightly to herself. Boredom had her in its grip.

Maybe she should spar with the training dummy she had built. At least she could work out her frustration.

She headed to the backyard. The makeshift training area they had set up was empty, as the kids were at school and everyone else was at work. A spear formed in her hand as she approached the dummy.

She stared at her target for a moment. The dummy was made primarily out of hay and was wearing on old T-shirt now littered with holes. A new one was torn in it as her spear passed through the chest, nearly continuing all the way through.

"HEY!"

Undyne jumped. "What the hell?"

"I'M NOT WORKING FOR YOU ANYMORE! WHATS THE IDEA TRYING TO STICK SPEARS IN ME?" The dummy had opened it's eyes- those were definitely not there before- and was shouting angrily.

"Wha- Madstablook?" Undyne asked incredulously. "What are you doing?"

The perpetually angry ghost glared at the warrior. "I'm trying to find a new form! My old one was deemed 'too shabby' by the department store where I wanted to work!"

"Oh." Undyne shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Well, I kinda made this one, so-"

"Selfish, selfish, SELFISH! Why can't you just let this poor ghost find a body?"

"Trust me, you don't want this one." Undyne pulled the spear out of the dummy's chest. "It's worse than your old one."

"Are- are you sure?" Madstablook seemed crestfallen. "I'm not a good judge of quality."

"Positive." Undyne let the spear dissipate. "But you know what? I think I can help you. I'll find a good body for you. One that's sure to get you a job in a department store."

"R-really?" The dummy's eyes widened. "You'd do that?"

"Sure." Undyne shrugged. "You're my friend after all."

If it were possible for the featureless dummy to smile, it would have.

"So how does this scanner thing work?" Sans asked.

"It's based on sonar t-technology. Basically, it sends a pulse that is only r-reflected by objects meeting a cer-certain criteria. I'm rather proud of it." Alphys explained.

Sans shook his head. "Wow. How'd you get it to do that?"

Alphys shrugged. "It was a lot of work and required a bit of m-magic. I'm not too good at that, though."

"Well, you're the only monster I know that can combine her magic with machines."

The computer beeped. A slip of paper had been located nearby. Alphys hurried to the controls for the robotic arm. She carefully manipulated them until she had the paper in her grasp and brought it into the airlock. They opened the door. Papyrus, who had been uncharacteristically silent, rushed in to scoop it up.

"OH. IT'S JUST ONE OF MINE." The skeleton looked disappointed. "WAIT!" He exclaimed suddenly. "I DIDN'T WRITE THIS PART!"

Sans looked at the note excitedly. Symbols were scrawled beneath Papyrus' note. Somehow, they made sense to him.

"It says 'I am lost. Only escaped when void was uncontained. Had to enter void once again to seal it. I believe I am able to stay in your world without problems. And hello, Papyrus, my son. I am so glad you are doing alright.' Wow. So all we have to do is find him?"

"NYOO HOO HOO..." Papyrus' eye sockets were damp. "I'VE CAUGHT TEARS IN MY EYES AGAIN..."

"Aww, bro. Isn't this great? We're gonna see dad again!" Sans hugged his tall brother happily.

Alphys glanced at the note. All she could see was an open hand, a hand holding up two fingers, a bomb, a frowning face, a square flag, and more. Nothing but symbols as far as she could tell. "Sans, how could you r-read this?" She asked.

The skeleton shrugged. "Dunno. I just could. I guess it's built in to me."

"Hmm. Papyrus, can you read it?"

Papyrus shook his head. "NO."

"Odd." Alphys looked at the note once more. Only time would tell the implications of this. Gaster could be saved. And that's what was important.

Toriel sighed and laid down her pen. It had been a long day. While teaching was one of her favorite things to do, it did grow tiresome when you were working long after the children had gone home. The end of the school year was approaching quickly, and she quite frankly didn't know what she was going to do during the summer months. At least, she didn't know before. Now that Gerson had brought forth this new information...

She looked at the clock on the wall and stretched. It was getting late. At that moment, Asgore came in.

"Here you are, dear." He set a teacup in front of her. "I thought this may help you out a little bit." The King sat down next to her and smiled.

Toriel smiled weakly back. "Thank you, Gorey. I feel as if I've been grading these papers for a year."

"So, um, we never quite finished our discussion about the school of magic. What do you think we should do?"

Toriel thought for a moment. "I think I'll see Mr. Davis about using the school building during the summer. Although I suppose we could build our own if need be."

Asgore nodded. "Right. We'll need a place to work." He sipped at his tea. "The other thing we need to do is find humans to teach. I guess the best way to do that is put out an advertisement."

"Mettaton may be able to help us with that. He's been very successful. Humans seem to find the fact that he's a robot fascinating." Toriel yawned again. "I'll try to contact him. But for now, it's late. Shall we head to bed?"

Asgore smiled at his wife. "Sure, dear."

-End of Chapter Thirty Ni-

 **Hello all you darling humans!**

 **Wha- Mettaton? What are you doing here?**

 **You wrote me into the author's note! And I'm not surprised you did. Having me in this chapter is SURE to boost your ratings!**

 **...You kinda ruined the effect there...**

 **Only telling the truth! Now, I've been contacted by our ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL royal couple and asked to do them a favor! Their school needs some students. So, if one of you wonderful humans out there has something special, or know someone else who does, PLEASE let this author know!**

 **...thanks, Mettaton. So. You heard the robot. If you or a human OC of yours wants to be a part of Uppertale, send me a PM with a character description! The only requirement I have is that they need to have some manifestation of magic. I can't guarantee everyone will make it into the story, but I'll do my best to put as many as I can in.**

 **Character descriptions should have the basics such as name, age, gender, their magic skill thingy, etc. as well as a rundown of their personality. Anything else you feel should be mentioned, go ahead and throw it in there!**

 **Now for the melodramatic stuff.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this experience. Uppertale has become a major part of my life, and I am honored that so many of you enjoy it. I will continue writing this for as long as I can, and it's all thanks to you and your support.**

 **Stay determined, everyone.**

 **Umbreon31**


	40. Late Night Thoughts

Chapter Forty

Sans entered the lab quietly and stared into the darkness of the room containing the void. He sighed and shoved his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. It had been nearly a week since they had heard from Gaster, and they had made no progress. It seemed that the void was infinitely large and couldn't be predicted. Gaster was out there somewhere, but it was nearly impossible to locate him.

He put his back against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. The lab was nearly silent in the middle of the night. Just the gentle hum of Alphys' machine. He closed his eyes, but couldn't sleep. There was too much on his mind.

That had to change. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. Meditation had never really been his thing, but now was as good a time as any to try it out.

That was the plan, anyway.

He felt a poke on his side and glanced up, opening his eyes. A cheerful face was staring back at him.

"hOI!"

"Wh- Temmie?" Sans looked at the little monster, startled. "What are you doing here?"

"lOOking foR TEmmiE flAks!" Temmie poked Sans again. "do you hAv?"

Sans grinned. "Nope, sorry. I don't have any."

"Oh. TEm unNERsTAn." She lay down on the floor and yawned. "slEepY."

"Well, it's the middle of the night." Sans told her. "How did you get in here anyway?"

Temmie shrugged and rolled over. "duNnO. BUt tEm is heRe noW." Her arm extended and she patted Sans' head sleepily. "yOur'e nicE."

"Heh. Thanks." Sans sat back and simply accepted the little creature's explanation. The Tems were an anomaly, even amongst monsters. It was anyone's guess how they did anything the way they did. "It's been a rough week, Temmie. I've been trying to find my dad. He's lost in the void." For some reason, Sans found himself spilling his feelings to Temmie.

"uR dad iz loSt?"

"Yeah."

"TeM help! TEm gUd at fiNDIng tHiNgs!" Temmie sat up, excited now. "hAz cOlleG eduCAtioN!"

Sans chuckled. "You wanna help? Sure thing, buddy."

"yaYA!" Temmie said and vanished.

"Wh-" Sans jumped to his feet. What just happened? Was he dreaming? He shook his head and slumped back on to the floor. It had to have been his imagination. He really needed to get some rest.

"Good news!" Undyne entered the backyard with a wide grin showing off her sharp teeth. "I think I found a dummy for you!" She shifted the mannequin she was carrying on her shoulder and set it down in front of Madstablook.

The ghost looked up and studied the mannequin with an approving look. "I like it." He nodded.

Undyne had found a store mannequin that had been discarded due to a missing arm. She had taken it and found a replacement, putting it together with some difficulty. Asgore had helped her the best he could, and together they had finally repaired it. "Just for you." She dusted it off with pride.

Madstablook left the training dummy, appearing as a ghost in front of Undyne. He circled the mannequin and grinned. "It looks great. I think. Like I said, I'm not a good judge of quality."

Undyne shrugged. "It's not the best, but it's certainly good." She indicated the shoulder, which didn't fit together quite perfectly. "This is the only issue, and it's small."

The ghost entered the mannequin, causing eyes to appear on the blank face. "It... It feels good. I like it."

Undyne grinned. This was the happiest she'd ever seen the temperamental ghost. "So what do you think? You want to go find a job?" She grabbed the mannequin, hoisted it over her head, and ran to her car, laughing as she did so.

-End of Chapter Forty

 **Well, this one was short. I just wanted to get something out there while I'm processing the incredible number of OC requests. Which brings me to my next point.**

 **The next several updates won't be chapters. They will take place at the class signup, as Toriel meets all of your characters. For this reason, there will be many short tidbits. Luckily, that means they will also come much more frequently.**

 **I am absolutely amazed by the sheer number of submissions I got. Unfortunately, this means I simply won't be able to include them all. At least, not in this story arc...**

 **Possible foreshadowing. I don't really know yet.**

 **Anyway, thank you all for caring about Uppertale so much. It is an amazing feeling to be getting messages from you guys telling me how much you love the story. To think that it started by me not wanting to leave Undertale behind, wanting the story to continue... I never expected for this to happen. You guys are all awesome.**

 **Umbreon31**


	41. Greyson

"Mrs. Dreemurr?"

Toriel looked up from her desk. The older students were all filing out of the classroom, but one boy remained, standing in front of her. "Yes, Greyson?" She asked with a smile. Greyson lived next door to the Dreemurrs and was always happy to talk to the family of monsters. He always seemed to be wearing a sweatshirt, even on the hotter days.

The boy hesitated. "I... I heard about the class you wanted to teach this summer... The magic classes?"

Toriel sat upright, immediately interested. "What did you want to know?"

"How do I sign up?" Greyson asked, smiling. "I... I can use magic, you see."

Toriel's jaw dropped slightly. Their first student was her neighbor? "That... That's fantastic, Greyson! What can you do?"

"I can control electricity a bit. Create it, too." He held up a hand, a spark jumping across his fingers.

"Electrokinesis." Toriel nodded. "An impressive skill, and one that is extraordinarily powerful when mastered."

"That's not all. I... I also have these." Greyson took of his sweatshirt and turned around. Sticking out through two holes in his shirt were two scaly wings, which he unfolded.

"Oh my." Toriel stood up. "Those are... Quite impressive."

Greyson shrugged. "I guess."

"Have you always had them?"

"Yes..." He nodded. "I tried to keep them hidden. But now that you guys are here, I think I may let the world see them. We're getting used to monsters, after all."

"A noble statement indeed." Toriel smiled at Greyson. "I plan to hold sign ups at the school this weekend. Come there and I shall register you!"

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Dreemurr." Greyson smiled as he put his sweatshirt back on. "I'll see you there!"

Well, I kinda lied accidentally last time. From here on out, the character introductions WILL take place at the sign ups. I just wanted to establish that Greyson was already one of Toriel's students.

Okay that's all. Until next time.


	42. Autumn

The sign ups had started. Toriel adjusted the papers in front of her. Interviews would take place privately, with an impressive line forming outside. She took a deep breath and called the first applicant inside.

"Hello. I am Mrs. Dreemurr. I will be teaching the magic class." Toriel smiled at the girl as she walked in. "And who are you?"

The girl shifted her feet shyly. "I'm Autumn." She said, looking up at Toriel through her rectangular glasses. "It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.

Toriel took it and shook, noting she was carrying a book in her other hand. That was good. It showed an eagerness to learn. "Autumn? That's a nice name. What can you do?"

"I can control fire. That's all." She looked down at her feet and smiled shyly.

"Hmm. Pyromancy? Thats a common skill. In fact, that is my preferred branch of magic. It is an old art, a staple amongst those who wield magic for ages."

"Really?" Autumn looked up, interested. "Do you think you could teach me?"

Toriel smiled kindly. "Of course, my child."

 **I received a question about submitting OCs via review for those who don't have an account. Of course you can! I have an incredible number of submissions already, however, so I can't guarantee that your character will show up, at least for a while. I'll do my best to work everyone into the story eventually, even if it's a small cameo appearance.**

 **Also, I apologize profusely for all the delays. Life has been chaotic, what with graduation and looking for a summer job and other things. But I'll try to get back on track.**

 **Thank you all for such a keen interest in Uppertale!**


	43. Hel

"Come in!" Toriel gestured to the next prospective student. She walked in somewhat hesitantly.

"I'm Hel." She introduced herself with a small smile.

"And I am Mrs. Dreemurr. I will be teaching the class." Toriel responded warmly. "Tell me a bit about yourself."

Hel looked down at her midnight purple boots. "I can manipulate plants." She said. "I can make them grow faster, control them a little, things like that."

"Fascinating." Toriel responded. "Botanamancy. That is a power I've never seen firsthand. I'm sure my husband would love to work with you. He is a gardener."

Hel looked up, her long purple and black hair rippling. She smiled, and Toriel got a small shock, noting the girl's red eyes. They were similar to Chara's. She dismissed the thought. It was nothing more than coincidence.

"I'm excited to learn more!" The girl exclaimed happily.


	44. Yui Celstine

The next student strolled in with a cheerful smile on her face. Toriel took in her appearance as she entered.

The girl was about five feet tall with long purple hair. Her eyes were green- or at least the left one was, as her right was covered by her bangs. She was wearing a red and purple sweater, dark purple suspenders holding up a pair of shorts, and knee-high rainbow socks. On her feet were black converse shoes.

"Hello. I am Mrs. Dreemurr, the teacher of the magic class." Toriel introduced herself.

"I'm Yui Celstine." The girl said happily. "Pleased to meet you." She offered a hand to Toriel, who took it.

Yui jerked her hand back at the contact, eyes wide. "W-wow." She said.

Toriel looked at the girl, concerned. "I'm sorry, is something wrong?"

"No, no... It's just that I've never felt so much power from a single source." She smiled again. "I can use powers that others have. I've met some of the people outside before." She gestured to the hallway where prospective applicants were waiting for their turn. "And some others who aren't here that can use magic. But sometimes when I'm with those people, I can sort of... borrow their abilities."

"Mimicry?" Toriel raised her eyebrows. "I haven't heard of anyone with that skill for centuries."

Yui was taken aback. "You mean I'm really unique?"

"Oh yes." Toriel smiled at the girl. "But do not worry. I'm sure I can help you learn how to master your skills."


	45. An Apology

Uppertale is not dead.

I'm sorry. I haven't written anything since June or so, and let me tell you why. Uppertale was essentially crushed under its own weight. Let me explain.

When I asked for OC submissions, I expected to get a good handful of characters. Fifteen, maybe twenty at the most. Certainly not very many. I was dead wrong. I got somewhere around 175 different characters submitted, blowing up my email inbox and flooding my private messages. At first, I was thrilled. I was so glad to have started something that so many cared about. I began to select some of my favorites and write short introductory chapters for them. It was fantastic.

But it didn't last.

As more and more characters flooded in, I began losing track of them. Screenshots of their bios were scatttered throughout my phone's photos, and I began mixing up some of the characters. I started to worry about portraying some of the students in a different way than the creators intended. And everything fell apart.

I had bitten off more than I could chew.

So here's the deal. Uppertale is making its return. But it will need to change. The last four chapters should be regarded as non-canon. I will not delete them, as I feel it would be wrong to disregard this event entirely. But let's go back to Undyne taking off with Mad Dummy to find a job, and keep the three students we met in our memory.

Once again, I'm sorry.


End file.
